tiptoe

[ tip-toh ]

/ ˈtɪpˌtoʊ /

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See synonyms for: tiptoe / tiptoed / tiptoeing / tiptoes on Thesaurus.com

noun

the tip or end of a toe.

verb (used without object), tip·toed, tip·toe·ing.

to move or go on tiptoe, as with caution or stealth: She tiptoed out of the room.

adjective

characterized by standing or walking on tiptoe.

straining upward.

eagerly expectant.

cautious; stealthy.

adverb

eagerly or cautiously; on tiptoe.

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Idioms about tiptoe

on tiptoe,

on the tips of one's toes.
expectant; eager: With Christmas coming, the children were on tiptoe.
stealthily; cautiously: The concert had already begun, so he entered the back of the hall on tiptoe.

Origin of tiptoe

1350–1400; Middle English tiptoon (plural noun). See tip¹, toe

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use tiptoe in a sentence

One or two, it seemed to me, were actually still tiptoeing “en pointe.”
Really Living It|Raphael Magarik|November 16, 2012|DAILY BEAST
So, like real pumas, the women who waited to see are just tiptoeing away, catlike, from the battle.
White Women Dump the Dems|Linda Hirshman|September 27, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Others are tiptoeing around the second item, as Elizabeth launches the latest book in her oeuvre of misfortune: Resilience.
Elizabeth Edwards the Hypocrite|Kathleen Parker|May 6, 2009|DAILY BEAST
Tiptoeing down the hall, he came to a small upstairs living room in which a light burned.
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942|Various

But before I have time to evolve a satisfactory explanation, I hear Wingie tiptoeing back.
Prison Memoirs of an Anarchist|Alexander Berkman
He listened some more; then he come tiptoeing down and stood right between us; we could a touched him, nearly.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Complete|Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
Davy picked up the reins and Frosty began tiptoeing around and arching his back.
David Lannarck, Midget|George S. Harney
From that I concluded that he had either stopped or had taken to tiptoeing, too.
Boy Scouts in the North Sea|G. Harvey Ralphson

British Dictionary definitions for tiptoe

tiptoe

/ (ˈtɪpˌtəʊ) /

verb -toes, -toeing or -toed (intr)

to walk with the heels off the ground and the weight supported by the ball of the foot and the toes

to walk silently or stealthily

noun

on tiptoe

on the tips of the toes or on the ball of the foot and the toes
eagerly anticipating something
stealthily or silently

adverb

on tiptoe

adjective

walking or standing on tiptoe

stealthy or silent

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with tiptoe

tiptoe

see on tiptoe.

tiptoe

Idioms about tiptoe

Origin of tiptoe

Words related to tiptoe

How to use tiptoe in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for tiptoe

Other Idioms and Phrases with tiptoe