sb. A tightly stretched rope, wire, or wire cable, on which rope-dancers and acrobats perform feats of equilibristic skill. Also attrib. (Contrasted with SLACK-ROPE.)
1801. Strutt, Sports & Past., III. iv. (1810), 188. Tumbling and jumping through a hoop … and dancing upon the tight-rope.
1861. Thackeray, Four Georges, iv. (1876), 105. A charming young Prince who danced deliciously on the tight-rope.
1890. Spectator, 22 Nov., 729/2. An interview with a tight-rope dancer.
1909–13. A. M. Ludovici, trans. Nietzsche’s Twilight of the Idols, in Wks. XVI. 4. One should adopt only those situations in which one is in no need of sham virtues, but rather, like the tight-rope dancer on his tight rope, in which one must either fall or stand—or escape.
Hence Tight-rope v., intr. to perform on the tight-rope; trans. to walk along as if on a tight-rope.
1858. A. Mayhew, Paved with Gold, II. vii. A small … garden, intersected with gravel paths not broader than deal boards, which entailed balancing on those who tight-roped its walks.
1908. Daily Chron., 1 Feb., 5/6. He has tumbled and tight-roped, slept under hedges, and accepted presents from reigning potentates.
