What does tightrope mean?
Word: Tightrope
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Tightrope means a rope or wire stretched tightly high above the ground, on which acrobats walk and perform.
Word origin: Recorded in English from about 1800; before that, performers on a stretched rope were often called rope-dancers.
How do you spell tightrope?
Syllables: tight - rope
Tricky part: The gh is silent, so students often leave it out; the word is also written solid, with no space or hyphen.
Watch out for: tightrop, titerope, tigtrope
Memory tip: Picture the cable pulled so taut that two silent letters, a g and an h, are squeezed into the middle of the word.
Idioms and Phrases
- walk a tightrope: to be in a difficult situation where you must be very careful about what you say or do. Example: "The class captain walked a tightrope, trying to keep both teams happy before the match."
Tightrope in a sentence
Example 1: The circus acrobat crossed the tightrope with a parasol in one hand.
Example 2: In Rajasthan, young street performers walk a tightrope strung between two bamboo poles.
Example 3: From the ground, the tightrope looked as thin as a thread.
Fun Fact
In 1859 the French performer Charles Blondin crossed the gorge below Niagara Falls on a tightrope, and on later crossings he carried all sorts of things, even a small stove.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Fusion
Read the clue and choose the two parts that make the word:
This is a rope stretched high above the ground for acrobats to walk along. 1. light 2. tug 3. rope 4. house 5. tight 6. boat
a) 1 and 4
b) 3 and 5
c) 4 and 6
d) 2 and 6
Show answer
b) 3 and 5. Only tight and rope give a word that fits the clue; lighthouse, tugboat and houseboat are real words, but none of them has anything to do with acrobats.
Spell Probe
Fill the blanks with 'i' and 'o'. Which option gives the meaning of that word?
1. t__ghtr__pe 2. fr__ghtf__l 3. s__ghts__eing 4. h__ghl__nd
a) visiting interesting places as a tourist
b) very bad or alarming
c) a high wire or cord that circus performers balance on
d) an area of high or mountainous land
Show answer
c) a high wire or cord that circus performers balance on. Tightrope is the word that takes i and then o; frightful's second gap needs u, sightseeing's e and highland's a.
Spell Spies
Choose the pair which has a spelling error:
a) easel : painter
b) loom : weaver
c) tightrope : acrobat
d) chisel : sculpter
Show answer
d) chisel : sculpter. Each pair is a tool and the person who uses it, and sculptor ends in or, like actor and sailor.
Word Tally
How many words are misspelt in the given sentence?
The acrobat's performence on the tightrope was so gracefull that the whole audiance rose to cheer.
a) 2
b) 3
c) 1
d) 0
Show answer
b) 3. Performance ends in ance, graceful has one l, and audience has ence: three errors in a single sentence.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A tightrope walker is also called a ___.
a) percussionist
b) contortionist
c) ventriloquist
d) funambulist
Show answer
d) funambulist
2. Why do many tightrope walkers carry a long pole?
a) it helps them keep their balance
b) it lets them reach the far end faster
c) it shows the crowd where to look
d) it stops the rope from swinging in the wind
Show answer
a) it helps them keep their balance
