TIPTOE Definition & Meaning

View synonyms for

tiptoe

[ tip-toh ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

tiptoed, tiptoeing.

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

tiptoe

/ ˈ��ɪ��ˌ��əʊ /

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

on tiptoe
1. on the tips of the toes or on the ball of the foot and the toes
2. eagerly anticipating something
3. stealthily or silently

Discover More

Origin of tiptoe¹

1350–1400; Middle English tiptoon (plural noun). See tip ¹, toe

Discover More

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

Discover More

Examples have not been reviewed.

During the quietest scene, they tiptoe upstairs, put on in-ear monitors and tune their second set of instruments until the last second.

From

And so is director Marc Webb’s “Snow White,” even as it tiptoes into theaters like they’re full of mean and scary trees.

From

Now they were tiptoeing along the cutline for the conference tournament.

From

Yet privately, and tiptoeing towards it in public, there was a sense that he was willing to take part in some form of negotiation.

From

Neutrality in a world of trade turmoil, not so much sat on a fence, but tiptoeing along a rather wobbly one.

From

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Browse