toe-dance

toe-dance verb: to dance on en pointe or on the balls of one's feet.

Verb

toe-dance (third-person singular simple present toe-dances, present participle toe-dancing, simple past and past participle toe-danced)

(literally) To dance on en pointe or on the balls of one's feet.
- At eight she could perform Chopin, sing Italian classics, paint and toe-dance.1947, Opera news - Volume 12, page 6
- In a few more months, she toe-danced, twirled and reached for the sun.2012, Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Chicken Soup for the Grandma's Soul
(figuratively) To avoid an issue by equivocation, diplomacy, or changing the subject.
- For five years, he toe-danced his way through a path of idiotic triple talk, before the FCC finally shouted him down.1966, Don McGuire, The Day Television Died, page 237
- If a newsman had asked me to comment on Spiro T. Agnew, even a few weeks before the 1968 Republican convention, I would have “toe-danced”—which in press secretary terminology means dodging the question.1980, Making it perfectly clear, page 154

toe-dance (plural toe-dances)

(literally) A dance performed on the toes.
- For the first number Bob presented another Bob, namely Bob Murphy, a Cambridge boy who started things going with a snappy toe-dance.1935, Conrad Aiken, King Coffin, page 206
- They showed teens how to skate with the new beat of rock and roll—including the “tanglefoot,” a type of toe-dance with a bit of Elvis swivel thrown in.2014, Dan Gogerty, Farmlines: Living In the Days of Dumb Phones and Analog Apps
(figuratively) An act of avoiding an issue.
- Re Guy Davenport's toe-dance around Joan Didion's brilliant Rum River [May 7]: save the non-reviews for the non-books.1963, National Review - Volume 14, page 471
- Drawing fine distinctions between various covenants or agreements is a toe-dance around the rule and is wasted effort when the import of the statute can be given effect simply by stating that the documents are within the statute but that the intention of the parties shall prevail.1970, Reports of Cases Determined by the Supreme Court of the State of Nevada, Volume 86, page 352

Inventive under stress, Franklin toe-danced and spun around, faking high spirits “as if he were part of the fun instead of its object.”2019, John F. Woolverton, James D. Bratt, A Christian and a Democrat:
Some skeptics have toe-danced around the issue for years, but they still have yet to answer that vital question.2007, Jonas E. Alexis, In the Name of Education, page 159:
She had many suitors but she lived only for Miss Pride who adored her and often had her do a toe-dance for her visitors who were often kings and queens.2015, Susan J. Rosowski, Birthing a Nation:

Verb
third-person singular present	toe-dances
present participle	toe-dancing
past participle	toe-danced
past	toe-danced
alternative form	toe dance
alternative form	toedance
Noun
plural	toe-dances

What does toe-dance mean?: Toe-dance means to dance on en pointe or on the balls of one's feet.
How do you use toe-dance in a sentence?: Inventive under stress, Franklin toe-danced and spun around, faking high spirits “as if he were part of the fun instead of its object.”
What part of speech is toe-dance?: Toe-dance can be a verb or a noun.
What is the past tense of toe-dance?: The past tense of toe-dance is toe-danced.

Adapted from Wiktionary: toe-dance (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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “toe-dance.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/toe-dance. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.