Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To walk or move quietly on one's toes.
- n. The tip of a toe.
- adj. Standing or walking on one's toes.
- adj. Stealthy; wary.
- adv. On one's toes.
- adv. Stealthily; warily.
- idiom. on tiptoe Full of anticipation; eager: The children were on tiptoe before the birthday party.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The tip of a toe: used in the plural, with reference to posture or movement on the ends (balls) of the toes of both feet, literally or figuratively.
- n. The ends of the toes collectively; the forward extremity of the foot, or of the feet jointly: in the phrase on tiptoe (a tiptoe), indicating cautious or mincing movement, or a stretching up to the greatest possible height: also used figuratively.
- To go or move on the tips of the toes, or with a mincing gait, as from caution or eagerness.
- On tiptoe, literally or figuratively.
Wiktionary
- v. alternative spelling of tip-toe.
- n. The tips of one's toes collectively.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The end, or tip, of the toe.
- adj. Being on tiptoe, or as on tiptoe; hence, raised as high as possible; lifted up; exalted; also, alert.
- adj. Noiseless; stealthy.
- v. To step or walk on tiptoe.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. walking on the tips of ones's toes so as to make no noise
- v. walk on one's toes
- adv. on tiptoe or as if on tiptoe
- n. the tip of a toe
Etymologies
- From tip. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“Horses walk on tiptoe, literally, unlike us when we walk on what we call tiptoe.”
“The Leads are a greate many stepps up on the top, a Large Cupilow of windows, and ye walls round ye Leads are so high a person of a middle stature Cannot Look over them scarce when on tiptoe, which is a Greate Lessening of its beauty wch would give a Large prospect round of the Country of 10 or 12 miles off.”
Through England on a Side Saddle in the Time of William and Mary
“A top Federal Reserve official blasted the Senate's financial reform bill Thursday night, arguing that it does little to end the perception that megabanks are too big to fail while lambasting the regulators and policymakers who "tiptoe" around financial behemoths and who have fostered the growth of "indestructible" large banks.”
“And for what it's worth, I think the same things, but when sharing these thoughts with other people I do indeed try to "tiptoe", because I'm not just trying to share my thoughts -ultimately I'd like to persuade or at least challenge, make others reconsider and I think that's a lot easier with a more gentle form.”
“Contrast that with the reaction to someone who isn't so socially skilled: "When he is in a bad mood, we kind of tiptoe around him.”
“Plus, of course, Lieberman doesn't "tiptoe" around the war issue - he actually supports the war in Iraq - still!”
“Mr. Tiku is also starting to "tiptoe" into the iShares MSCI BRIC exchange-traded fund as emerging markets "have gotten decimated.”
The Wall Street Journal: Funds Build Cash, Tiptoe into Purchases
“The best way from the environmental perspective would be to kind of tiptoe into climate intervention: ramping it up gradually so if bad things started happening you could ramp it back down again.”
“Hulse last week called the proposed ordinance a way to "tiptoe" into tree management measures.”
“These aren't exhibition games where you can come in and just kind of tiptoe your way in.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘tiptoe’.
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movement (slow)
words describing slow action or movement
( open list, randomness, descriptive )
related:
http://www.wordnik.co...creep, crawl, plod, slouch, idle, lumber, tiptoe, bend, amble, mosey, saunter, loiter and 117 more...
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Figuratively
Words with definitions containing "figuratively."
spore, plunge, fulminate, rasp, hinge, niche, breathe, approach, hammer, rain, butcher, dazzle and 132 more...
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I am : moving
Words to describe gait and movement.
walk, run, trot, jog, canter, gallop, skip, crawl, slink, slither, amble, trundle and 69 more...
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words classifiable in 4 different way...
words classifiable in 4 different ways as a noun, verb, adj and adv
best, better, bitter, broadside, clean, clear, close, cod, collect, counter, crisscross, damn and 39 more...
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Literally
Words with definitions that contain the word "literally."
Biblicist, cy pres, literally, lit., loan translation, metaphrase, polite, Embarrass, repentance, rabbi, sparkle, article and 30 more...
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LWC's Words
spork, heteroskedasticity, kurtosis, eigenspace, smithian, skewness, montanan, whoremonger, mellifluous, fishwife, papist, romanist and 142 more...
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Words Covered in Faery Dust (T)
words that evoke magic, mystery, mayhem, magnificence or anything else that glimmers in the grass
tabard, tadpole, taffeta, taffy, talisman, tallgrass, tam, tamarind, tamarack, tambourine, tango, tansy and 144 more...
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mango22's Words
avalanche, apple, arrividerci, awry, adamant, asunder, barter, beloved, calm, cataclysmic, catastrophe, coat and 143 more...
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quiescence.
words used to describe quiet activity
susurration, whisper, shh, quiescence, silence, sneaking, tiptoe, eavesdrop
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do the locomotion
Ways of walking, running, skipping, etc. Not included: assisted locomotion (riding, driving, boating). These verbs should more or less fit the paradigm: She _______ (her way) into/out of/through/ar...
stagger, stumble, dart, dash, run, walk, mince, sashay, strut, stride, move, go and 108 more...
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Favoritter
tiptoe, paw, flutter, winged, onto, present, glisten, bitter, molecule, forever and a day, collapse, drift and 23 more...
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cheerful-sounding words
apple, arrividerci, delightful, goose, jazz, loose, moon, opal, noon, plump, swivel, sugar and 4 more...
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OM3 Lesson 17
newscaster, storm, severe, by, may, in fact, snow, viewing area, bridge, overpass, icy, become and 19 more...
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Walk This Way
...or run, if you're feeling energetic.
stroll, amble, pace, stride, jog, run, saunter, meander, mosey, ramble, toddle, sashay and 52 more...
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T
twilight, tutu, tea rose, taffeta, thimble, thistle, tinker, tiptoe, tulle, tumble, tawny, 'twill and 37 more...
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sunsprouts's Words
dropsy, quell, dreamy, shy, babe, equus, gallop, fox, racecar, corpuscle, lachrymose, mugwump and 38 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for tiptoe.
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