See pussyfoot in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for pussyfoot meaning in English (8.1kB)
{
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "pussy",
"3": "foot",
"gloss1": "feline"
},
"expansion": "pussy (“feline”) + foot",
"name": "compound"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From pussy (“feline”) + foot; because of the light and careful tread of cats.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "pussyfoots",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "pussyfooting",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "pussyfooted",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "pussyfooted",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "pussyfoot (third-person singular simple present pussyfoots, present participle pussyfooting, simple past and past participle pussyfooted)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [],
"glosses": [
"To move silently, stealthily, or furtively."
],
"id": "en-pussyfoot-en-verb-QgoOTTt5",
"links": [
[
"silently",
"silently"
],
[
"stealthily",
"stealthily"
],
[
"furtively",
"furtively"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(intransitive) To move silently, stealthily, or furtively."
],
"tags": [
"intransitive"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "97 3 0",
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "promǎkvam se tiho",
"sense": "to move silently",
"word": "промъквам се тихо"
},
{
"_dis1": "97 3 0",
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "to move silently",
"word": "sluipen"
},
{
"_dis1": "97 3 0",
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "to move silently",
"word": "trippelen"
},
{
"_dis1": "97 3 0",
"code": "fo",
"lang": "Faroese",
"sense": "to move silently",
"tags": [
"reflexive"
],
"word": "smeita"
},
{
"_dis1": "97 3 0",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to move silently",
"word": "hiipiä"
},
{
"_dis1": "97 3 0",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to move silently",
"word": "hipsutella"
},
{
"_dis1": "97 3 0",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to move silently",
"word": "hipsiä"
},
{
"_dis1": "97 3 0",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to move silently",
"word": "trippeln"
},
{
"_dis1": "97 3 0",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to move silently",
"word": "auf Zehenspitzen gehen"
},
{
"_dis1": "97 3 0",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to move silently",
"word": "schleichen"
},
{
"_dis1": "97 3 0",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to move silently",
"word": "herumschleichen"
},
{
"_dis1": "97 3 0",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to move silently",
"word": "leisetreten"
},
{
"_dis1": "97 3 0",
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "to move silently",
"word": "tassa"
},
{
"_dis1": "97 3 0",
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "to move silently",
"word": "smyga"
},
{
"_dis1": "97 3 0",
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "to move silently",
"word": "trippa"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2004, Jeph Jacques, Fripp and Eno",
"text": "— So are you going to practice what you’re preaching and stop pussyfooting around with Faye?\n— Hey, I’m 0 for 1 when it comes to practicing what I preach. These feet stay pussied for the time being.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2023 April 5, “Network News: NAO: Use HS2 Euston pause to put project on a stable footing”, in RAIL, number 980, page 13",
"text": "The TSSA union said the Government should \"stop pussyfooting around\" and place Euston at the heart of the transformative rail project.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To act timidly or cautiously."
],
"id": "en-pussyfoot-en-verb-rcGOBrFv",
"links": [
[
"timidly",
"timidly"
],
[
"cautiously",
"cautiously"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(intransitive) To act timidly or cautiously."
],
"tags": [
"intransitive"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "11 78 11",
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "dejstvam predpazlivo",
"sense": "to act timidly",
"word": "действам предпазливо"
},
{
"_dis1": "11 78 11",
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "to act timidly",
"word": "treuzelen"
},
{
"_dis1": "11 78 11",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to act timidly",
"word": "arastella"
},
{
"_dis1": "11 78 11",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to act timidly",
"word": "hissutella"
},
{
"_dis1": "11 78 11",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to act timidly",
"word": "um den heißen Brei schleichen"
},
{
"_dis1": "11 78 11",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to act timidly",
"word": "leisetreten"
},
{
"_dis1": "11 78 11",
"code": "no",
"lang": "Norwegian",
"sense": "to act timidly",
"tags": [
"figuratively"
],
"word": "gå på gummisåler"
},
{
"_dis1": "11 78 11",
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "to act timidly",
"word": "fega"
},
{
"_dis1": "11 78 11",
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "to act timidly",
"word": "fjompa"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "26 18 19 36",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1946, Tennessee Williams, The Unsatisfactory Supper",
"text": "\"Then you talk up! And plain! What's there to be so pussyfooting about?\"",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To use euphemistic language or circumlocution."
],
"id": "en-pussyfoot-en-verb-wYZHhVfA",
"links": [
[
"euphemistic",
"euphemistic"
],
[
"language",
"language"
],
[
"circumlocution",
"circumlocution"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(intransitive) To use euphemistic language or circumlocution."
],
"tags": [
"intransitive"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "3 3 93",
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "to use euphemistic language",
"word": "schoonspreken"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 3 93",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to use euphemistic language",
"word": "sievistellä"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 3 93",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to use euphemistic language",
"word": "hyssytellä"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 3 93",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to use euphemistic language",
"word": "um den heißen Brei herumreden"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 3 93",
"code": "no",
"lang": "Norwegian",
"sense": "to use euphemistic language",
"tags": [
"figuratively"
],
"word": "gå på gummisåler"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 3 93",
"code": "no",
"lang": "Norwegian",
"sense": "to use euphemistic language",
"word": "skjønnmale"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 3 93",
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "to use euphemistic language",
"word": "skönmåla"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 3 93",
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "to use euphemistic language",
"word": "omskriva"
},
{
"_dis1": "3 3 93",
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "to use euphemistic language",
"word": "omformulera"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈpʊs.iˌfʊt/",
"tags": [
"UK"
]
},
{
"audio": "en-au-pussyfoot.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/bf/En-au-pussyfoot.ogg/En-au-pussyfoot.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/En-au-pussyfoot.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "pussyfoot"
}
{
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "pussy",
"3": "foot",
"gloss1": "feline"
},
"expansion": "pussy (“feline”) + foot",
"name": "compound"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From pussy (“feline”) + foot; because of the light and careful tread of cats.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "pussyfoots",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "pussyfoot (plural pussyfoots)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1930, Sax Rohmer, The Day the World Ended, published 1969, page xi. 103",
"text": "\"We keep off that road like a pussyfoot keeps off whiskey. Get it out of your bean that we're exploring a deserted ruin.\"",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A teetotaller."
],
"id": "en-pussyfoot-en-noun-VZ344OzH",
"links": [
[
"teetotaller",
"teetotaller"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(dated) A teetotaller."
],
"related": [
{
"word": "pussytoe"
},
{
"word": "walk on eggshells"
}
],
"tags": [
"dated"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈpʊs.iˌfʊt/",
"tags": [
"UK"
]
},
{
"audio": "en-au-pussyfoot.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/bf/En-au-pussyfoot.ogg/En-au-pussyfoot.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/En-au-pussyfoot.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "pussyfoot"
}
{
"categories": [
"English 3-syllable words",
"English compound terms",
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English terms with IPA pronunciation",
"English terms with audio links",
"English verbs"
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "pussy",
"3": "foot",
"gloss1": "feline"
},
"expansion": "pussy (“feline”) + foot",
"name": "compound"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From pussy (“feline”) + foot; because of the light and careful tread of cats.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "pussyfoots",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "pussyfooting",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "pussyfooted",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "pussyfooted",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "pussyfoot (third-person singular simple present pussyfoots, present participle pussyfooting, simple past and past participle pussyfooted)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English intransitive verbs"
],
"glosses": [
"To move silently, stealthily, or furtively."
],
"links": [
[
"silently",
"silently"
],
[
"stealthily",
"stealthily"
],
[
"furtively",
"furtively"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(intransitive) To move silently, stealthily, or furtively."
],
"tags": [
"intransitive"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English intransitive verbs",
"English terms with quotations",
"Quotation templates to be cleaned"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2004, Jeph Jacques, Fripp and Eno",
"text": "— So are you going to practice what you’re preaching and stop pussyfooting around with Faye?\n— Hey, I’m 0 for 1 when it comes to practicing what I preach. These feet stay pussied for the time being.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2023 April 5, “Network News: NAO: Use HS2 Euston pause to put project on a stable footing”, in RAIL, number 980, page 13",
"text": "The TSSA union said the Government should \"stop pussyfooting around\" and place Euston at the heart of the transformative rail project.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To act timidly or cautiously."
],
"links": [
[
"timidly",
"timidly"
],
[
"cautiously",
"cautiously"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(intransitive) To act timidly or cautiously."
],
"tags": [
"intransitive"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English intransitive verbs",
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1946, Tennessee Williams, The Unsatisfactory Supper",
"text": "\"Then you talk up! And plain! What's there to be so pussyfooting about?\"",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To use euphemistic language or circumlocution."
],
"links": [
[
"euphemistic",
"euphemistic"
],
[
"language",
"language"
],
[
"circumlocution",
"circumlocution"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(intransitive) To use euphemistic language or circumlocution."
],
"tags": [
"intransitive"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈpʊs.iˌfʊt/",
"tags": [
"UK"
]
},
{
"audio": "en-au-pussyfoot.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/bf/En-au-pussyfoot.ogg/En-au-pussyfoot.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/En-au-pussyfoot.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "promǎkvam se tiho",
"sense": "to move silently",
"word": "промъквам се тихо"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "to move silently",
"word": "sluipen"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "to move silently",
"word": "trippelen"
},
{
"code": "fo",
"lang": "Faroese",
"sense": "to move silently",
"tags": [
"reflexive"
],
"word": "smeita"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to move silently",
"word": "hiipiä"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to move silently",
"word": "hipsutella"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to move silently",
"word": "hipsiä"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to move silently",
"word": "trippeln"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to move silently",
"word": "auf Zehenspitzen gehen"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to move silently",
"word": "schleichen"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to move silently",
"word": "herumschleichen"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to move silently",
"word": "leisetreten"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "to move silently",
"word": "tassa"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "to move silently",
"word": "smyga"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "to move silently",
"word": "trippa"
},
{
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "dejstvam predpazlivo",
"sense": "to act timidly",
"word": "действам предпазливо"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "to act timidly",
"word": "treuzelen"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to act timidly",
"word": "arastella"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to act timidly",
"word": "hissutella"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to act timidly",
"word": "um den heißen Brei schleichen"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to act timidly",
"word": "leisetreten"
},
{
"code": "no",
"lang": "Norwegian",
"sense": "to act timidly",
"tags": [
"figuratively"
],
"word": "gå på gummisåler"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "to act timidly",
"word": "fega"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "to act timidly",
"word": "fjompa"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "to use euphemistic language",
"word": "schoonspreken"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to use euphemistic language",
"word": "sievistellä"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to use euphemistic language",
"word": "hyssytellä"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to use euphemistic language",
"word": "um den heißen Brei herumreden"
},
{
"code": "no",
"lang": "Norwegian",
"sense": "to use euphemistic language",
"tags": [
"figuratively"
],
"word": "gå på gummisåler"
},
{
"code": "no",
"lang": "Norwegian",
"sense": "to use euphemistic language",
"word": "skjønnmale"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "to use euphemistic language",
"word": "skönmåla"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "to use euphemistic language",
"word": "omskriva"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "to use euphemistic language",
"word": "omformulera"
}
],
"word": "pussyfoot"
}
{
"categories": [
"English 3-syllable words",
"English compound terms",
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English terms with IPA pronunciation",
"English terms with audio links",
"English verbs"
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "pussy",
"3": "foot",
"gloss1": "feline"
},
"expansion": "pussy (“feline”) + foot",
"name": "compound"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From pussy (“feline”) + foot; because of the light and careful tread of cats.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "pussyfoots",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "pussyfoot (plural pussyfoots)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"related": [
{
"word": "pussytoe"
},
{
"word": "walk on eggshells"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English dated terms",
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1930, Sax Rohmer, The Day the World Ended, published 1969, page xi. 103",
"text": "\"We keep off that road like a pussyfoot keeps off whiskey. Get it out of your bean that we're exploring a deserted ruin.\"",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A teetotaller."
],
"links": [
[
"teetotaller",
"teetotaller"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(dated) A teetotaller."
],
"tags": [
"dated"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ˈpʊs.iˌfʊt/",
"tags": [
"UK"
]
},
{
"audio": "en-au-pussyfoot.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/bf/En-au-pussyfoot.ogg/En-au-pussyfoot.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/En-au-pussyfoot.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "pussyfoot"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English 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.