See walk on eggshells on Wiktionary
Download JSON data for walk on eggshells meaning in All languages combined (10.2kB)
{
"etymology_text": "1800s usage, probably from the imagery that eggshells are easily broken when stepped upon.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "walks on eggshells",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "walking on eggshells",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "walked on eggshells",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "walked on eggshells",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "*"
},
"expansion": "walk on eggshells (third-person singular simple present walks on eggshells, present participle walking on eggshells, simple past and past participle walked on eggshells)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"related": [
{
"_dis1": "45 55",
"word": "pussyfoot"
},
{
"_dis1": "45 55",
"word": "tread lightly"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "48 52",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "54 46",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"parents": [
"Entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "52 48",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English predicates",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "53 47",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"parents": [
"Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To be overly careful in dealing with a person or situation because they get angry or offended very easily; to try very hard not to upset someone or something."
],
"id": "en-walk_on_eggshells-en-verb-3NTRCtCv",
"links": [
[
"careful",
"careful"
],
[
"angry",
"angry"
],
[
"offended",
"offended"
],
[
"upset",
"upset"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) To be overly careful in dealing with a person or situation because they get angry or offended very easily; to try very hard not to upset someone or something."
],
"related": [
{
"_dis1": "62 38",
"sense": "walking",
"word": "on thin ice"
}
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "65 35",
"code": "hy",
"lang": "Armenian",
"roman": "varvel šrǰahayacʻ kerpov",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "վարվել շրջահայաց կերպով"
},
{
"_dis1": "65 35",
"code": "hy",
"lang": "Armenian",
"roman": "gorcel mecaguyn zgušutʻyamb",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "գործել մեծագույն զգուշությամբ"
},
{
"_dis1": "65 35",
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "dejstvam vnimatelno",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "действам внимателно"
},
{
"_dis1": "65 35",
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "anar amb peus de plom"
},
{
"_dis1": "65 35",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"note": "for superiors only",
"roman": "bàn jūn rú bàn hǔ",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "伴君如伴虎"
},
{
"_dis1": "65 35",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "謹慎行事"
},
{
"_dis1": "65 35",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "jǐnshèn xíngshì",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "谨慎行事"
},
{
"_dis1": "65 35",
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "gå på æggeskaller"
},
{
"_dis1": "65 35",
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "op eieren lopen"
},
{
"_dis1": "65 35",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "pitää kuin kukkaa kämmenellä"
},
{
"_dis1": "65 35",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "marcher sur des œufs"
},
{
"_dis1": "65 35",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "prendre des pincettes"
},
{
"_dis1": "65 35",
"code": "gl",
"lang": "Galician",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "ir cos pés de la"
},
{
"_dis1": "65 35",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
],
"word": "einen Eiertanz vollführen"
},
{
"_dis1": "65 35",
"code": "he",
"lang": "Hebrew",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "ללכת על ביצים"
},
{
"_dis1": "65 35",
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "camminare sulle uova"
},
{
"_dis1": "65 35",
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "andare coi piedi di piombo"
},
{
"_dis1": "65 35",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "obchodzić się jak z jajkiem"
},
{
"_dis1": "65 35",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"tags": [
"Brazil"
],
"word": "pisar em ovos"
},
{
"_dis1": "65 35",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "xodítʹ na cýpočkax",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "ходи́ть на цы́почках"
},
{
"_dis1": "65 35",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "xodítʹ na cýrlax",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "ходи́ть на цы́рлах"
},
{
"_dis1": "65 35",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "xodítʹ po jaíčnoj skorlupé",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "ходи́ть по яи́чной скорлупе́"
},
{
"_dis1": "65 35",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "xodítʹ po jájcam",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "ходи́ть по я́йцам"
},
{
"_dis1": "65 35",
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "ходати по јајима"
},
{
"_dis1": "65 35",
"code": "uk",
"lang": "Ukrainian",
"roman": "nosytysja, jak kurka z jajcem",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "носитися, як курка з яйцем"
},
{
"_dis1": "65 35",
"code": "uk",
"lang": "Ukrainian",
"roman": "bihaty, jak kurka z jajcem",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "бігати, як курка з яйцем"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "48 52",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "54 46",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"parents": [
"Entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "52 48",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English predicates",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "53 47",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"parents": [
"Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To be careful and sensitive, in handling very sensitive matters."
],
"id": "en-walk_on_eggshells-en-verb-7~lhAYuL",
"links": [
[
"sensitive",
"sensitive"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) To be careful and sensitive, in handling very sensitive matters."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "17 83",
"code": "hy",
"lang": "Armenian",
"roman": "linel nurb nkataṙum pahanǰoġ drutʻyan meǰ",
"sense": "to handle sensitive matters delicately",
"word": "լինել նուրբ նկատառում պահանջող դրության մեջ"
},
{
"_dis1": "17 83",
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "to handle sensitive matters delicately",
"word": "anar amb peus de plom"
},
{
"_dis1": "17 83",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "rú lǚ bó bīng",
"sense": "to handle sensitive matters delicately",
"word": "如履薄冰"
},
{
"_dis1": "17 83",
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "to handle sensitive matters delicately",
"word": "op eieren lopen"
},
{
"_dis1": "17 83",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to handle sensitive matters delicately",
"word": "käsitellä silkkihansikkain"
},
{
"_dis1": "17 83",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "to handle sensitive matters delicately",
"word": "prendre des pincettes"
},
{
"_dis1": "17 83",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "to handle sensitive matters delicately",
"word": "prendre des gants"
},
{
"_dis1": "17 83",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "to handle sensitive matters delicately",
"word": "mettre des gants"
},
{
"_dis1": "17 83",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to handle sensitive matters delicately",
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
],
"word": "wie ein rohes Ei behandeln"
},
{
"_dis1": "17 83",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "to handle sensitive matters delicately",
"word": "obchodzić się jak z jajkiem"
},
{
"_dis1": "17 83",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "to handle sensitive matters delicately",
"tags": [
"Brazil"
],
"word": "pisar em ovos"
},
{
"_dis1": "17 83",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "xodítʹ na cýpočkax",
"sense": "to handle sensitive matters delicately",
"word": "ходи́ть на цы́почках"
},
{
"_dis1": "17 83",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "xodítʹ po jájcam",
"sense": "to handle sensitive matters delicately",
"word": "ходи́ть по я́йцам"
},
{
"_dis1": "17 83",
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "to handle sensitive matters delicately",
"word": "ходати по јајима"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˌwɔːk ɒn ˈɛɡʃɛlz/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˌwɔk ɑn ˈɛɡʃɛlz/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˌwɑk-/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/-ɔn-/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"audio": "En-au-walk on eggshells.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/94/En-au-walk_on_eggshells.ogg/En-au-walk_on_eggshells.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/En-au-walk_on_eggshells.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "walk on eggshells"
}
{
"categories": [
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English predicates",
"English terms with IPA pronunciation",
"English terms with audio links",
"English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"English verbs"
],
"etymology_text": "1800s usage, probably from the imagery that eggshells are easily broken when stepped upon.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "walks on eggshells",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "walking on eggshells",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "walked on eggshells",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "walked on eggshells",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "*"
},
"expansion": "walk on eggshells (third-person singular simple present walks on eggshells, present participle walking on eggshells, simple past and past participle walked on eggshells)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"related": [
{
"sense": "walking",
"word": "on thin ice"
},
{
"word": "pussyfoot"
},
{
"word": "tread lightly"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English idioms"
],
"glosses": [
"To be overly careful in dealing with a person or situation because they get angry or offended very easily; to try very hard not to upset someone or something."
],
"links": [
[
"careful",
"careful"
],
[
"angry",
"angry"
],
[
"offended",
"offended"
],
[
"upset",
"upset"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) To be overly careful in dealing with a person or situation because they get angry or offended very easily; to try very hard not to upset someone or something."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English idioms"
],
"glosses": [
"To be careful and sensitive, in handling very sensitive matters."
],
"links": [
[
"sensitive",
"sensitive"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) To be careful and sensitive, in handling very sensitive matters."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˌwɔːk ɒn ˈɛɡʃɛlz/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˌwɔk ɑn ˈɛɡʃɛlz/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/ˌwɑk-/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/-ɔn-/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"audio": "En-au-walk on eggshells.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/94/En-au-walk_on_eggshells.ogg/En-au-walk_on_eggshells.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/94/En-au-walk_on_eggshells.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "hy",
"lang": "Armenian",
"roman": "varvel šrǰahayacʻ kerpov",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "վարվել շրջահայաց կերպով"
},
{
"code": "hy",
"lang": "Armenian",
"roman": "gorcel mecaguyn zgušutʻyamb",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "գործել մեծագույն զգուշությամբ"
},
{
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "dejstvam vnimatelno",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "действам внимателно"
},
{
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "anar amb peus de plom"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"note": "for superiors only",
"roman": "bàn jūn rú bàn hǔ",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "伴君如伴虎"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "謹慎行事"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "jǐnshèn xíngshì",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "谨慎行事"
},
{
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "gå på æggeskaller"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "op eieren lopen"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "pitää kuin kukkaa kämmenellä"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "marcher sur des œufs"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "prendre des pincettes"
},
{
"code": "gl",
"lang": "Galician",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "ir cos pés de la"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
],
"word": "einen Eiertanz vollführen"
},
{
"code": "he",
"lang": "Hebrew",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "ללכת על ביצים"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "camminare sulle uova"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "andare coi piedi di piombo"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "obchodzić się jak z jajkiem"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"tags": [
"Brazil"
],
"word": "pisar em ovos"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "xodítʹ na cýpočkax",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "ходи́ть на цы́почках"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "xodítʹ na cýrlax",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "ходи́ть на цы́рлах"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "xodítʹ po jaíčnoj skorlupé",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "ходи́ть по яи́чной скорлупе́"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "xodítʹ po jájcam",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "ходи́ть по я́йцам"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "ходати по јајима"
},
{
"code": "uk",
"lang": "Ukrainian",
"roman": "nosytysja, jak kurka z jajcem",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "носитися, як курка з яйцем"
},
{
"code": "uk",
"lang": "Ukrainian",
"roman": "bihaty, jak kurka z jajcem",
"sense": "to act carefully to avoid upsetting someone",
"word": "бігати, як курка з яйцем"
},
{
"code": "hy",
"lang": "Armenian",
"roman": "linel nurb nkataṙum pahanǰoġ drutʻyan meǰ",
"sense": "to handle sensitive matters delicately",
"word": "լինել նուրբ նկատառում պահանջող դրության մեջ"
},
{
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "to handle sensitive matters delicately",
"word": "anar amb peus de plom"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "rú lǚ bó bīng",
"sense": "to handle sensitive matters delicately",
"word": "如履薄冰"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "to handle sensitive matters delicately",
"word": "op eieren lopen"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to handle sensitive matters delicately",
"word": "käsitellä silkkihansikkain"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "to handle sensitive matters delicately",
"word": "prendre des pincettes"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "to handle sensitive matters delicately",
"word": "prendre des gants"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "to handle sensitive matters delicately",
"word": "mettre des gants"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to handle sensitive matters delicately",
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
],
"word": "wie ein rohes Ei behandeln"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "to handle sensitive matters delicately",
"word": "obchodzić się jak z jajkiem"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "to handle sensitive matters delicately",
"tags": [
"Brazil"
],
"word": "pisar em ovos"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "xodítʹ na cýpočkax",
"sense": "to handle sensitive matters delicately",
"word": "ходи́ть на цы́почках"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "xodítʹ po jájcam",
"sense": "to handle sensitive matters delicately",
"word": "ходи́ть по я́йцам"
},
{
"code": "sh",
"lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
"sense": "to handle sensitive matters delicately",
"word": "ходати по јајима"
}
],
"word": "walk on eggshells"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.