atiptoe

American  

[uh-tip-toh] / əˈtɪpˌtoʊ /

adverb

1. standing or walking on tiptoe (usually used predicatively).

2. eagerly expectant, as anticipating a desired event or arrival.

   waiting atiptoe for the mail.

3. moving with caution or stealth, as avoiding calling attention to one's presence.

   She walked atiptoe through the sleeping house.

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Etymology

Origin of atiptoe

First recorded in 1570–80; a- ¹ + tiptoe

Example Sentences

Was it any wonder she Stood atiptoe tremblingly?

From The Old Soldiers Story Poems and Prose Sketches by Riley, James Whitcomb

Eros, who in Arcady seemed atiptoe, so delicately did he tread upon the tender places of the soul, acquired, behind the mask of Cupid, a maliciousness that was simian.

From Historia Amoris: A History of Love, Ancient and Modern by Saltus, Edgar

It went about like a mother who has found her child asleep at play, and who steals away atiptoe, finger on lip, lips smiling tenderly.

From Emma McChesney and Co. by Ferber, Edna