tippy-tap

Definitions

1. 1

   A step that makes a clicking sound.

   • […] she trots through the halls of her mansion jiggling in her frilly dresses and making tippy-taps with her high heels.
   • But it was not to be, as Armbro Romance exploded out of the pocket and with a couple of tippy-taps from Campbell, the filly crossed the wire in an unreal 1:49.4, with Galleria a well-beaten second.
   • Happily The Delaunay is a few tippy-taps away and lobster roll has joined the menu.
2. 2

   A light and rapid tap

   • Why do TV news anchors always do that thing at the end of the show when they gather their papers in a neat pile, stand them on end and give them a little double tippy-tap?
   • The rapid tippy-tap of his neighbor’s snare drum sounded, and Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” began.
3. 3

   A gourd or small jerry can filled with water and attached to a piece of wood at ground…

   A gourd or small jerry can filled with water and attached to a piece of wood at ground level, such that stepping on the wood tips the gourd or can to release a stream of water through a small hole.

4. ›+ 2 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      To tap dance, or imitate tap dancing.

      • At Rainbow Park Elementary in Opa-locka, fourth graders tippy-tap in front of a wall of mirrors on a dance floor that would be the envy of most professional studios.
      • Alas, too often the Eagles wide receiver reacts as though he has been asked to dance. He tippy-taps in place, placid, compliant.
   2. 5

      To tap lightly.

      • I have always envied the starch in their shirts and the clean fingers they use to tippy-tap their computers and develop weird schematics while their fake Rolex wristwatches glitter.
      • He hands me one rod and grabs the person closest next to me—Wendy, in this case—and shoves the second rod in her hand as he gleefully tippy-taps his fingers on the knobs of this contraption box resting against his ample belly.
      • Because swimming-hole water has substance: Pine needles tippy-tap your thighs, and tiny fish nip the hair on your legs.

The neighborhood

• neighbortippy-tappy