pointe

American  

[pwant] / pwɛ̃t /

noun

Ballet.

PLURAL

pointes

1. the tip of the toe.

2. a position on the extreme tips of the toes.

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idioms

1. on / en pointe, supporting one’s body weight on the extreme tips of the toes: null onen pointes

   dancing on pointe.

pointe British  

/ pɔɪnt /

noun

1. ballet the tip of the toe (esp in the phrase on pointes )

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Etymology

Origin of pointe

1820–30; < French: pointe ( du pied ) “tiptoe,” literally, “extremity of the foot”

Example Sentences

Over and over, the men lifted the women into the air or dragged them along as their pointe shoes skimmed the floor.

From New York Times

She wrote that MacMillan was inspired by watching her one night as she worked alone on pointe.

From New York Times

Fuzzy Haskins, a foundational member of the vocal group that morphed into Parliament-Funkadelic, the genre-blurring collective led by George Clinton that shook up the pop music world in the 1970s, died on March 16 in Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich. He was 81.

From New York Times

Muromtseva even left her pointe shoes behind in Kyiv, as all she could pack was one bag.

From Reuters

Muromtseva was registered as a refugee in Germany last year where she was offered new pointe shoes and a place to practice, before she auditioned for the job at the Hungarian State Opera, which has Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian dancers among its soloists and international corps de ballet.

From Reuters