a-tiptoe

A form of atiptoe — On tiptoe; on the tips of one's toes in order to move quietly or to stand taller.

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Meanings

adverba-tiptoe (not comparable)
  1. alternativenot comparableAlternative form of atiptoe.

    Moving a-tiptoe, silent as the elves, / As mischievous too, trip three bare-footed girls / Not yet opened to womanhood— […]

    1868, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], “Book III”, in The Spanish Gypsy: A Poem, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, page 224
    3 more examples

    Our impatient friend scrambled, with some difficulty, on the top of the bench intended for his seat; and there, "paining himself to stand a-tiptoe," like [Geoffrey] Chaucer's gallant Sir Chaunticlere, he challenged the notice of the audience as he stood bowing and claiming acquaintance of his namesake, Sir Geoffrey the larger, with whose shoulders, notwithstanding his elevated situation, he was scarcely yet upon a level.

    1822, [Walter Scott], chapter VI, in Peveril of the Peak. […], volume IV, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 122

    Consider therefore if, on this Wednesday morning, there is an affluence of Patriotism; if Paris stands a-tiptoe, and all Deputies are at their post! […] Meanwhile expectant Patriotism and Paris standing a-tiptoe, have need of patience.

    1837, Thomas Carlyle, “The Three Votings”, in The French Revolution: A History […], volume III (The Guillotine), London: James Fraser, […], →OCLC, book II (The Paper Age), page 141

    [P]eople on the floor of the court, laid their hands on the shoulders of the people before them, to help themselves, at anybody's cost, to a view of him—stood a-tiptoe, got upon ledges, stood upon next to nothing, to see every inch of him.

    1859, Charles Dickens, “A Sight”, in A Tale of Two Cities, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, book II (The Golden Thread), page 40
adjectivea-tiptoe (not comparable)
  1. alternativenot comparableAlternative form of atiptoe.
Cite this entry
APA

a-tiptoe. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/a-tiptoe

MLA

“a-tiptoe.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/a-tiptoe. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “a-tiptoe,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/a-tiptoe.

Source: a-tiptoe on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.