on tiptoe

English

Prepositional phrase

on tiptoe

1. Standing elevated on the tips of one's toes.
   • 1960 July 11, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC:

     Some tinfoil was sticking in a knot-hole just above my eye level, winking at me in the afternoon sun. I stood on tiptoe, hastily looked around once more, reached into the hole, and withdrew two pieces of chewing gum minus their outer wrappers.

2. Moving carefully, quietly, warily or stealthily on the tips of one's toes.

   We crept out on tiptoe so as not to awake the children.

Synonyms

• (adverbial): atiptoe, en pointe (ballet), tiptoeingly (rare)
• (adjectival): atiptoe, tiptoeing

Translations

on the tips of one's toes

• Esperanto: piedpinte

moving carefully

• Bulgarian: на пръсти (na prǎsti)
• Catalan: de puntetes
• Esperanto: piedfingropinte
• Finnish: varpaisillaan
• French: sur la pointe des pieds (fr), à pas feutrés (fr)
• Greek: ακροποδητί (el) (akropodití)
• Hungarian: lábujjhegyen
• Irish: ar na barraicíní
• Russian: на цыпочках (na cypočkax)
• Scottish Gaelic: air corra-biod
• Spanish: de puntillas, en puntas de pie, de puntitas
• Tagalog: nakatigda, patiyad, nakatiyad
• Walloon: so ses tchåssetes (wa)
• Welsh: ar flaenau'r traed