trip the light fantastic toe en · VERB
Etymology
From John Milton's 1645 lyric poem L’Allegro, specifically the lines: "Com, and trip it as ye go / On the light fantastick toe."
Meanings
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(alt-of, obsolete) Obsolete form of trip the light fantastic.
alt of trip the light fantastic
Would any of the gay gentry of these parts deem themselves honored, and above their fellows, had they "tripped the light fantastic toe" with Royalty?
1833 May 28, The Hobart Town Chronicle, page 4, column 4:Com, and trip it as ye go / On the light fantaſtick toe,
a. 1645, John Milton, “L’Allegro”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC, page 31:The venerable Sachems now returned to the ballroom, where they tripped the light fantastic toe until the hour far.
1856 January 9, “The Softs: Grand Demonstration at the Old Wigwam, Sentiments, Speeches and Dancing”, in New-York Daily Times, page 1:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| tripping the light fantastic toe | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| tripped the light fantastic toe | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| tripped the light fantastic toe | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| trips the light fantastic toe | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic |