tippy-toen.adv.adj.
/ˈtɪpɪtəʊ/ A. n. plural.
The tips of the toes. Usually in on (one's) tippy-toes. Occasionally also as collective singular.
ΚΠ
1899 Cent. Mag. Nov. 47/2 The whole court now stood on its tippy-toes.
1965 New Statesman 3 Dec. 897/2 Illustrations..show the dear little mite standing on tippy-toe to feed famished and deserted nestlings.
1980 Dirt Bike Oct. 68/1 I stood on tippi-toes to watch.
B. adv.
Short for on (one's) tippy-toes at sense A.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > posture > action of standing up or rising > [adverb] > on tiptoe
on or upon tiptoec1440
a-tiptoe1576
tiptoe1597
tippy-toe1901
1901 ‘Zack’ Tales Dunstable Weir 216 The rocking stone stud tippy-toe above his girt shadder.
1975 R. Helms Tolkien's World iv. 126 A rather vulgar sugar-iced concoction, with a doll tippy-toe on its pinnacle as the Fairy Queen.
C. adj.
Standing or walking on tiptoe. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > posture > action of standing up or rising > [adverb] > on tiptoe > or walking
tippy-toe1951
1951 J. Steinbeck About Ed Ricketts in J. Steinbeck & E. F. Ricketts Log from ‘Sea of Cortez’ p. xli Ed would be smiling and doing his tippy-toe mouse dance.
1968 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 8 Nov. 1/5 He [sc. Richard Nixon] is not as cautious and tippy-toe as he appeared to many voters.
1980 S. T. Haymon Death & Pregnant Virgin ix. 71 When Jack Ellers was excited he rose up on the balls of his feet... Now he came into the dreary room..all tippy-toe.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
tippy-toev.
intransitive. To go on tiptoe, to move lightly. Also figurative. Cf. tiptoe v. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > walking > walk, tread, or step [verb (intransitive)] > walk on tiptoe
tiptoe1748
tippy-toe1901
1901 ‘Zack’ Tales Dunstable Weir 232 I tippy-toed back to the fire.
1942 C. Morley Thorofare xxxvi. 169 I tippy-toed down one side to join the Confed'racy while my old man was pretending to look up the other.
1974 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 29 Oct. 6/6 Did he tippy-toe across the press?
1980 Daily Tel. 2 Sept. 11/2 The roly-poly little girl who tippy-toed through Sandy Wilson's enchanting ‘Big Best Shoes’ number in ‘Valmouth’ all those years ago.
Derivatives
ˈtippy-toed adj. (in quot. as quasi-adv.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > walking > [adverb] > on tiptoe
soft-foot1902
tippy-toed1938
1938 M. K. Rawlings Yearling iv. 31 A deer track'll prove the same. A deer or bear that's fat and heavy'll sink in that-a-way [at the heel]. A lettle ol' light doe or yearlin' 'll walk tippy-toed, and you'll not see more than the front of their hooves.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
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n.adv.adj.1899v.1901