on one's toes
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Fully alert and ready to act quickly
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Hoàn toàn cảnh giác và sẵn sàng hành động nhanh
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: standing on toes
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The coach kept the players on their toes during practice
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “on one's toes” mean?
Fully alert and ready to act quickly Literally: standing on toes
Is “on one's toes” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.