STEP

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English stæpe; akin to Old High German stapfo ~, stampfōn to stamp Date: before 12th century a rest for the foot in ascending or descending: as, one of a series of structures consisting of a riser and a tread, a ladder rung, 2. a. an advance or movement made by raising the foot and bringing it down elsewhere, a combination of foot or foot and body movements constituting a unit or a repeated pattern , manner of walking ; stride , footprint 1, the sound of a foot~ , 3. the space passed over in one ~, a short distance , the height of one stair, course , way , 5. a degree, grade, or rank in a scale, a stage in a process , a frame on a ship designed to receive an upright shaft, an action, proceeding, or measure often occurring as one in a series , a ~like offset or part usually occurring in a series, an interval in a musical scale, ~ aerobics , a slight lead in or as if in a race , ~like adjective ~ped adjective II. verb (~ped; ~ping) Date: before 12th century intransitive verb 1. to move by raising the foot and bringing it down elsewhere or by moving each foot in succession, dance , 2. to go on foot ; walk , advance , proceed , to be on one's way ; leave , to move briskly , to press down with the foot , to come as if at a single ~ , transitive verb to take by moving the feet in succession , 2. to move (the foot) in any direction ; set , to traverse on foot, to go through the ~s of ; perform , to make erect by fixing the lower end in a ~ , to measure by ~s , 6. to provide with ~s, to make ~s in , to construct or arrange in or as if in ~s