From Middle English tipto, typto; equivalent to tip + toe. Compare fingertip.
Meanings
(not-comparable) Standing elevated, on or as if on the tips of one's toes.
And ever as they talked Beregond was more amazed, and looked with greater wonder at the hobbit, swinging his short legs as he sat on the seat, or standing tiptoe upon it to peer over the sill at the lands below. 1955 October 20, J[ohn] R[onald] R[euel] Tolkien, “Minas Tirith”, in The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of The Lord of the Rings […], New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books, published December 1978, →ISBN, book V, page 39:
Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day / Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops. c. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene v]:
(not-comparable) Moving carefully, quietly, warily or stealthily, on or as if on the tips of one's toes.
And stole along on tiptoe tread 1819, Lord Byron, The Prophecy of Dante:
with tiptoe step 1782, William Cowper, Expostulation:
sv tåspets (tips of one's toes) · ar رُؤُوسُ أَصَابِع (tips of one's toes) · es punta del/de pie (tips of one's toes) · ja 爪先 (tips of one's toes) · de Zehenspitze (tips of one's toes) · ru ко́нчики па́льцев ног (tips of one's toes) · mn өлмий (tips of one's toes) · sk špička (tips of one's toes) · ko 발끝 (tips of one's toes) · hu lábujjhegy (tips of one's toes) · ru цы́почки (tips of one's toes) · pl czubek palca u stopy (tips of one's toes) · ga barraicín (tips of one's toes) · es punta de pies (los) (tips of one's toes) · bg върха на пръстите на краката (tips of one's toes) · ryu 爪先 (tips of one's toes) · cmn 腳尖 /脚尖 (tips of one's toes) · cs špička (tips of one's toes) · it punta dei piedi (tips of one's toes) · gd corra-biod (tips of one's toes) · gl palpexo (tips of one's toes) · es punta de ortejos (los) (tips of one's toes) · es punta podal (tips of one's toes) · ru цы́пки (tips of one's toes) · fi varpaankärjet (tips of one's toes) · ca punteta (tips of one's toes) · cy blaen troed (tips of one's toes) · gl punta do pé (tips of one's toes) · fr pointe des pieds (tips of one's toes)
From Middle English tipto, typto; equivalent to tip + toe. Compare fingertip.
Meanings
(intransitive) To walk quietly with only the tips of the toes touching the ground.
Who can it be knocking at my door?
Make no sound, tiptoe across the floor
If he hears, he'll knock all day
I'll be trapped and here I'll have to stay 1981, Men at Work, “Who Can It Be Now?”, in Business as Usual:
We went tip-toeing along a path amongst the trees back towards the end of the widow's garden, stooping down so as the branches wouldn't scrape our heads. 1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter II, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC, page 8:
A few aging men tiptoed in [...] men who had been Bert's companions at drinking or pennyante while the world passed them by. 1949, Dorothy M. Johnson, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance; in Indian Country, London: Corgi, 1961, page 90:
We tiptoed into the house, up the stairs and along the hall into the room where the Professor had been spending so much of his time. 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter XIII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
Tiptoe through the window
By the window, that is where I'll be
Come tiptoe through the tulips with me
Tiptoe from your pillow
To the shadow of the willow tree
And tiptoe through the tulips with me. 1929, “Tiptoe Through the Tulips”, Al Dubin (lyrics), Joe Burke (music), performed by Nick Lucas:
eo iri piedpinte (to walk quietly) · tr parmak ucunda yürümek (to walk quietly) · et kikivarvul käima (to walk quietly) · fi hiipiä varpaisillaan (to walk quietly) · tl tumiyad (to walk quietly) · pt andar na ponta dos pés (to walk quietly) · bg ходя на пръсти (to walk quietly) · fi sipsuttaa (to walk quietly) · zza gıst sero şiyen (to walk quietly) · sk ísť po špičkách (to walk quietly) · vi nhón (to walk quietly) · fi tepsuttaa (to walk quietly) · pl chodzić na palcach (to walk quietly) · izh kepsaa (to walk quietly) · es caminar/andar de puntillas (to walk quietly) · mk оди на прсти (to walk quietly) · it camminare in punta di piedi (to walk quietly) · qu hink'iy (to walk quietly) · ca caminar de puntetes (to walk quietly) · cs chodit po špičkách (to walk quietly) · ru ходи́ть на цы́почках (to walk quietly) · ro merge pe vârfuri (to walk quietly) · mi hītekiteki (to walk quietly) · fr marcher sur la pointe des pieds (to walk quietly) · el περπατώ ακροποδητί (to walk quietly) · ro merge tiptil (to walk quietly) · de auf den Zehenspitzen gehen (to walk quietly) · nl op de tippen lopen (to walk quietly) · sv gå på tå (to walk quietly) · izh kepsuttaa (to walk quietly) · mi hītengitengi (to walk quietly) · es caminar/andar de punta (to walk quietly)