tightrope

«tightrope» in Mova's school dictionary: a rope or wire stretched tight high above the ground… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a tightrope, tightropes)

meaning for a pupil

1) A tightrope is a rope or wire stretched tight high above the ground, which an acrobat walks along. tree →

2) «To walk a tightrope» means to be in a difficult situation where you must be very careful, because a small mistake could cause trouble. tree →

sense in the lessons

In circus stories a tightrope walker balances with a long pole or with arms held out. In science, it is an example of balance and centre of gravity: holding a long pole helps keep balance. In everyday speech, «walking a tightrope» means keeping two sides happy or avoiding a mistake. Phrases: «walk a tightrope», «tightrope walker», «on a tightrope».

examples

• The tightrope walker crossed high above the circus ring. tree →
• She held a long pole to keep her balance on the tightrope. tree →
• Nobody fell off the tightrope. tree →
• Our teacher showed that a pole helps balance, just like on a tightrope. tree →
• Being friends with both groups felt like walking a tightrope. tree →
• There was a safety net under the tightrope. tree →
• We made a pretend tightrope with a line of tape on the floor. tree →

note

Countable noun, plural tightropes. One word. «Walk a tightrope» is an idiom and usually has nothing to do with a real rope. Do not confuse with «tight rope» (any rope pulled tight).

In the corpora

• A tightrope walker carries a long pole because it helps her keep her centre of gravity over the rope.
• A tightrope walker's long pole is slow to turn, which gives the walker time to correct wobbles.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «tightrope» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.