a-tiptoe

See also: atiptoe

English

Adverb

a-tiptoe (not comparable)

1. Alternative form of atiptoe
   • 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:

     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.

   • 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:

     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.

   • 1859, Charles Dickens, “A Sight”, in A Tale of Two Cities, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, book II (The Golden Thread), page 40:

     [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.

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

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

Adjective

a-tiptoe (not comparable)

1. Alternative form of atiptoe