Meaning & use
tight rope walking
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Meanings
noununcountable
The skill or activity of walking along a thin rope stretched high above the ground, usually as a performance.
Grammar: Uncountable, so it takes a singular verb and no article when you talk about the activity in general.
Patterns
- do tight rope walking
- take up tight rope walking
Tight rope walking takes years of practice and very good balance.
The crowd held its breath during the tight rope walking act above the square.
She learned tight rope walking from her grandfather, who worked in a circus.
noununcountablefigurative
The act of balancing carefully between two difficult or dangerous situations.
Grammar: Used figuratively; often followed by 'between' two things.
Patterns
- tight rope walking between something and something
Running a small business felt like tight rope walking between hope and debt.
For the mayor, the talks were tight rope walking between two angry groups.
Common combinations
- do tight rope walking
- He does tight rope walking at fairs on weekends.
- a tight rope walking act
- The tight rope walking act was the highlight of the show.
- high above the ground
- Tight rope walking high above the ground terrifies most people.
- good at tight rope walking
- Few performers are as good at tight rope walking as she is.
Synonyms and how they differ
- tightrope act
- Names one performance rather than the skill itself, so it is countable: 'a tightrope act'.
- balancing
- A much wider word for keeping steady on anything; it does not suggest a rope or a height.
Word family
- tightrope noun
- The thin rope itself, stretched high up.
- tightrope walker noun
- A person who performs this skill.
Commonly confused: tight rope walking or tightrope walking? tight rope walking or rope walking?
tight rope walking vs tightrope walking
This is the same activity written as one word or with a hyphen; the spaced form in the headword is also common.
tight rope walking vs rope walking
Rope walking can mean walking on any rope, including one lying on the ground; tight rope walking always suggests a taut rope, usually high up.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'tight rope walking' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Good at' is followed by the activity, and the uncountable noun works here. Option 0 is wrong because the noun is uncountable and takes 'is'; option 2 is wrong because we say 'did tight rope walking' or 'did a tight rope walking act'; option 3 is wrong because the noun has no plural form.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “tight rope walking”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.