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# 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 →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tightrope/#m1)

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 →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tightrope/#m2)

### 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 →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tightrope/#x1)
- She held a long pole to keep her balance on the tightrope. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tightrope/#x2)
- Nobody fell off the tightrope. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tightrope/#x3)
- Our teacher showed that a pole helps balance, just like on a tightrope. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tightrope/#x4)
- Being friends with both groups felt like walking a tightrope. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tightrope/#x5)
- There was a safety net under the tightrope. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tightrope/#x6)
- We made a pretend tightrope with a line of tape on the floor. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tightrope/#x7)

### 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.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/2-balance-and-falling-well/12/)
- [A tightrope walker's long pole is slow to turn, which gives the walker time to correct wobbles.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/physics/8-balance-the-centre-of-gravity/11/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «tightrope» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/tightrope/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.