toe-dance

English

Alternative forms

• toe dance, toedance

Verb

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

1. To dance on en pointe or on the balls of one's feet.
   • 1947, Opera news - Volume 12, page 6:

     At eight she could perform Chopin, sing Italian classics, paint and toe-dance.

   • 2012, Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Chicken Soup for the Grandma's Soul:

     In a few more months, she toe-danced, twirled and reached for the sun.

   • 2019, John F. Woolverton, James D. Bratt, A Christian and a Democrat:

     Inventive under stress, Franklin toe-danced and spun around, faking high spirits “as if he were part of the fun instead of its object.”

2. To avoid an issue by equivocation, diplomacy, or changing the subject.
   • 1966, Don McGuire, The Day Television Died, page 237:

     For five years, he toe-danced his way through a path of idiotic triple talk, before the FCC finally shouted him down.

   • 1980, Making it perfectly clear, page 154:

     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.

   • 2007, Jonas E. Alexis, In the Name of Education, page 159:

     Some skeptics have toe-danced around the issue for years, but they still have yet to answer that vital question.

   • 2014, P. J. O'Rourke, The C.E.O. of the Sofa:

     But from the way that actual Republican candidates toe-dance when they address actual abortion questions, it's clear that Republicans have finally gotten it through their thick skulls that even Republican women want abortion to be available at least as an option under certain circumstances.

Noun

toe-dance (plural toe-dances)

1. Alternative form of toe dance
   1. A dance performed on the toes.
      • 1935, Conrad Aiken, King Coffin, page 206:

        For the first number Bob presented another Bob, namely Bob Murphy, a Cambridge boy who started things going with a snappy toe-dance.

      • 2014, Dan Gogerty, Farmlines: Living In the Days of Dumb Phones and Analog Apps:

        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.

      • 2015, Susan J. Rosowski, Birthing a Nation:

        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.

   2. An act of avoiding an issue.
      • 1963, National Review - Volume 14, page 471:

        Re Guy Davenport's toe-dance around Joan Didion's brilliant Rum River [May 7]: save the non-reviews for the non-books.

      • 1970, Reports of Cases Determined by the Supreme Court of the State of Nevada, Volume 86, page 352:

        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.

Anagrams

• anecdote, encoated