Definition of "pussyfoot"

pussyfoot

/ˈpʊs.iˌfʊt/

verb
third-person singular simple present pussyfoots, present participle pussyfooting, simple past and past participle pussyfooted
1. (intransitive) To move silently, stealthily, or furtively.
2. (intransitive) To act timidly or cautiously.
  Quotations
  — So are you going to practice what you’re preaching and stop pussyfooting around with Faye?— Hey, I’m 0 for 1 when it comes to practicing what I preach. These feet stay pussied for the time being.
  2004, Jeph Jacques, Fripp and Eno‎
  The TSSA union said the Government should "stop pussyfooting around" and place Euston at the heart of the transformative rail project.
  2023 April 5, “Network News: NAO: Use HS2 Euston pause to put project on a stable footing”, in RAIL, number 980, page 13
3. (intransitive) To use euphemistic language or circumlocution.
  Quotations
  "Then you talk up! And plain! What's there to be so pussyfooting about?"
  1946, Tennessee Williams, The Unsatisfactory Supper
noun
plural pussyfoots
1. (dated) A teetotaller.
  Quotations
  "We keep off that road like a pussyfoot keeps off whiskey. Get it out of your bean that we're exploring a deserted ruin."
  1930, Sax Rohmer, The Day the World Ended, published 1969, page xi. 103