To tiptoe means to walk very quietly and carefully on the tips of your toes, with your heels lifted off the ground. Picture someone sneaking past a sleeping baby's room, trying not to make a sound with their footsteps. That delicate, careful walk is tiptoeing.

People tiptoe when they want to move silently or avoid disturbing someone. You might tiptoe downstairs on Christmas morning to peek at presents, or tiptoe past your sibling's room when they're studying for a big test. Dancers and gymnasts sometimes tiptoe to move gracefully, while someone might tiptoe through a dark room to avoid bumping into furniture.

Tiptoe can also be a noun, meaning a step taken this way.

The word also describes being very careful about a sensitive topic. When adults tiptoe around a difficult subject, they're being extra cautious about what they say, trying not to upset anyone. A teacher might tiptoe around the fact that a student failed a test, choosing gentle words instead of blunt ones.

Walking on your tiptoes makes you slightly taller but much less stable, which captures something important about the word: whether you're tiptoeing across a creaky floor or tiptoeing around someone's feelings, you're moving carefully through a situation that requires extra attention and delicacy.