Tiptoe
intentionally standing or walking on the toes and balls of the feet
Tiptoe (tiptoes or tippy toes) describes the human body posture and locomotion of removing the heel(s) of one or both feet from the ground. The term is mostly used colloquially when the weight is placed on the balls of the feet rather than literally on the tips of the toes; literal tip-toeing is difficult but possible, as in the pointe technique of ballet. In running, landing on the ball of the foot is known as forefoot strike.
Kinesiology
To go into tiptoe, the ankle must be flexed to raise the heel off the ground. This requires the engagement of the calf muscle, along with various other muscles in the foot and shin to stabilize the joint. Even with this, the form is often less stable, requiring the engaging of muscles within the torso and a better sense of weight for the person to stay balanced. There is generally some movement, even subtle, in the ankle, as holding it statically would make balance difficult, so it is the first to give.
Uses
Height
Raising up on the toes will increase someone's height and reach. It is used often to make someone appear taller, whether in an engagement, or when measuring one's height. It is also used to reach objects that are higher up than one can reach when on one's heels.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Tiptoe” is intentionally standing or walking on the toes and balls of the feet. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Tiptoe, intentionally and standing, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “intentionally standing or walking on the toes and balls of the feet” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7808984. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Tiptoe”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Tiptoe primary sources, Tiptoe archive and Tiptoe research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Tiptoe”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Tiptoe” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.