Word.ws English Dictionary

keeping someone on their toes

keeping someone on their toes is the present participle and gerund of keep someone on their toes.

Meaning of keep someone on their toes

Verb

keep someone on their toes (third-person singular simple present keeps someone on their toes, present participle keeping someone on their toes, simple past and past participle kept someone on their toes)

  1. (idiomatic) To keep someone attentive, active, busy or alert.
    • Four-year-old twins will certainly keep you on your toes!

Questions about keeping someone on their toes

What is keeping someone on their toes the present participle and gerund of?
Keeping someone on their toes is the present participle and gerund of keep someone on their toes.

Words near keeping someone on their toes in the dictionary

  1. keeping someone company
  2. keeping someone guessing
  3. keeping someone honest
  4. keeping someone in the loop
  5. keeping someone on ice
  6. keeping someone on their toes
  7. keeping someone posted
  8. keeping someone posted up
  9. keeping someone sweet
  10. keeping someone up at night
  11. keeping soul and body together

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: keeping someone on their toes (page history and authors); keep someone on their toes (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “keeping someone on their toes.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/keeping_someone_on_their_toes. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.