tightrope

Preposition: of

• fear: John Connelly The government is walking the tightrope of political fear ( just what will the Daily Mail say?
• life: You are no longer walking dangerously on the tightrope of life!

Converse of object

• tread: He is a constant theatrical innovator and a writer whose trademark is increasingly the ability to tread a delicate tightrope between humor and despair.
• walk: Even with the safety lines, the walk across the swaying metal was like walking a tightrope.
• cross: Crossing the tightrope seemed an apt description of how I feel doing many things, including Random Acts.

Adjective modifier

• difficult: The experience of franchising in further education is a case study in walking this difficult tightrope.
• delicate: It is a delicate tightrope that we choose to walk.
• disciplinary: Cullen would have to walk the disciplinary tightrope for at least 80 minutes as referee Taylor cautioned him for the challenge.
• dangerous: With the program's high ratings came an equally high profile, and every week we walked a dangerous tightrope.
• real: So here goes... In the Tut ' n ' Shive this week, the youngsters called Fake Ideal were treading a real tightrope.
• same: The trouble is that both sides are walking the same tightrope from opposite directions.

Modifies a noun

• walker: He got stung by a bee - the natural enemy of a tightrope walker.
• walking: I don't stand too near the edge on tube platforms these days, or do tightrope walking.
• walk: He would deftly invite the audience to go with him on a tightrope walk, led by his imagination.
• act: Balancing research and teaching is notoriously difficult, and I also see this as a valuable check on that particular tightrope act.