tightrope walking

plural tightrope walkings · alternative tightrope-walking · alternative dated tight-rope walking · alternative dated tight-rope-walking

1. uncountableusuallyThe acrobatic feat of walking on a tightrope.

   Most of the novelties, including the aerial jumpings and the tightrope walkings, had been tapering off in preparation for this exciting final event.

   1947 June, Consolata Carroll, “Three-ring Circus”, in Pray Love, Remember, New York, N.Y.: Farrar, Straus and Company, published September 1947 (2nd printing), →OCLC, page 155

   1 more example

   The extant verses deal with the usual subject of love, cup-bearers, songs, dances, music; there is no shortage of tightrope walkings, virtuosity and artificiality typical of Arab poetry.

   2007, Vito Salierno, “Arab-Norman Sicily”, in Islam and Pakistan’s Identity, Lahore: Iqbal Academy Pakistan, →ISBN, page 131

   Synonyms: funambulism, ropedancing

alternative tightrope-walking · alternative dated tight-rope walking · alternative dated tight-rope-walking

1. figurativelygerundparticiplepresentuncountableusuallypresent participle and gerund of tightrope walk

   Mary Ann could witness the intricacies, the pitfalls, and the tightrope walkings of marriage, and even handle them, but not Michael.

   1971, Catherine Cookson, “The Lapse”, in The Lord and Mary Ann (Mary Ann; 2), New York, N.Y.: William Morrow and Company, published 1975, →ISBN, page 96

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   Each show targets some facet of adult life that richly deserves to be questioned, such as sport hunting with assault weapons. Those are hot-button topics for adults, and the show’s writing is a miracle of tightrope walking in its handling of them.

   1998 May 10, Stephen Eberhart, “‘South Park,’ Teachers and Kids”, in Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, Calif.: Los Angeles Times Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 Jun 2025

   I have failed to find a single article in your newspaper about the "tightrope walking" that the Swiss were forced to perform between the Allies and the Nazis in order to survive as a country and avoid invasion.

   1998 December 3, Donna Erismann-Foote, “Letters to the Editor: A Swiss Tightrope”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 Jun 2025