I. ˈstep noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English step, steppe, from Old English stæpe, stepe; akin to Old Frisian stap, stepe step, footstep, Old High German stapf, stapfo step, footstep, Old English stæppan, steppan to step — more at step (v.)
1. : something to put the foot on in ascending or descending:
a. : one of a flight of stairs consisting of a riser and a tread
b.
(1) : a rung of a ladder
(2) : a flat crosspiece of a stepladder
c. : a flat projecting or projectable footpiece for entering or alighting from a vehicle
d. : a foothold cut in a slope of earth, rock, or ice
2.
a. : an advance or movement made by raising the foot and bringing it down in a different position
took two steps toward the door and stopped
b. : a combination of foot or of foot, leg, and body movements constituting a simple unit or a pattern that is repeated
dancing … with such coincidence of step and gesture as only years of training could render possible — Lafcadio Hearn
c. : a pace in military drill — often used in combination
goose step
d. : manner of walking : stride
came in with his light lithe step — Adria Langley
e. : a mark or impression made by the foot : footprint
steps leading across the beach and disappearing at the water's edge
f. : the sound of a footstep
heard his step on the stairs
3.
a. : the space passed over by the movement of one foot beyond the other in walking
twelve steps or more from my mother's door — William Wordsworth
b.
(1) : a short distance
a store located just a step from the bank
(2) : a distance for walking
lives a good step down the road
c. obsolete : a short journey
resolved to take a step to Paris for my health — Jonathan Swift
d. : the vertical distance of one of a set of stairs
built the kitchen two steps lower than the dining room
4. steps plural : progress by or as if by walking : course , way
vengeance tend upon thy steps — Shakespeare
directed his steps toward the river
5.
a. : a degree, grade, or rank in a scale
a step higher in the social scale
rose several steps in my opinion
b. : a stage in a gradual, regular, or orderly process
achieve the initial step in this ambitious plan — Mason Wade
guided her through every step of her career — Jerry Cotter
c. : promotion to the next higher grade or rank
trusted you would get the step within … twelve months — Sir Walter Scott
d. : any one of a graded series of photographic exposures or tones
6.
a. : a wood or metal frame on a ship designed to receive an upright shaft ; especially : a block supporting the heel of a mast
b. : the lower bearing block on which a vertical shaft revolves
c. : one of the halves of a split-bearing bushing
7. : an action, proceeding, or measure often occurring as one in a series
took the unusual step of personally remonstrating with the president — W.C.Ford
took steps toward securing the mouth of the river against Spain — American Guide Series: Louisiana
8. : pace with or as if with another
two friends kept step beside me — A.E.Housman
9. : a steplike offset or part usually occurring in a series ; specifically : one of the series of parts of a cone pulley on which the belt runs
10. steps plural : stepladder
from the early 18th century, library steps were in use — J.E.Gloag
11.
a. : a musical scale or staff degree
b. : the interval between two contiguous degrees of the staff or scale
c. : whole step
12.
a. : a steplike shoulder or bench on an otherwise smoothly rising hillside or slope : one of a series of terraces rising from a valley floor
b. : a steplike shelf or ledge in the vertical surface of a quarry or mine working
13. : a change in direction in a line, a surface, or the construction of a solid body ; specifically : a break in the form of the bottom of a float or hull of a seaplane that is designed to reduce resistance when under way by rapidly reducing the wetted surfaces as speed increases and that serves to eliminate suction effect and improve longitudinal control in takeoff
14.
a. : a change of place due to a motion of translation
b. : the translation that effects such a step
•
- in step
- on the step
- out of step
II. verb
( stepped or archaic stept -pt ; stepped or archaic stept ; stepping ; steps )
Etymology: Middle English steppen, stepen, stapen, from Old English stæppan, steppan; akin to Old Frisian stapa, steppa to step, Middle Dutch stappen, Old High German stapfōn, stepfen to step, Old Norse stappa to pound, stamp — more at stamp
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to move in any direction by raising the foot and bringing it down in a different position or by moving each foot in succession : move the feet (as in walking)
walked … to the barn and stepped into the saddle — Will Cook
hunters … step over the dead animal — J.G.Frazer
stepped ashore at the ferry landing — Louis Bromfield
stepped off the curb and started walking down the hill — Dorothy Baker
stepped out on deck to cool himself — E.K.Gann
stepped down from the ladder
step aside to let the doctor pass
the referee stepped between the two boxers
b. : dance
the girl can really step
2.
a. : to go on foot : walk
what, you are stepping westward — Dorothy Wordsworth
please step to the telephone
stepped down to the corner for a newspaper
b. obsolete : to move forwrd : advance , proceed
I am in blood stepped in so far — Shakespeare
c. : to go or be on one's way : depart — often used with along
well, I must step along now
d. : to move at a brisk or lively pace
they kept us stepping all right — W.L.Gresham
3.
a. : to put the foot down : tread
step on a rusty nail
b. : to press down with the foot
step on the brake
4.
a. : to come as if at a single step
stepped into a fortune when his father died
step into a good job
b. obsolete : to enter suddenly and in a rash or thoughtless manner
in hot blood hath stepped into the law — Shakespeare
5. : to stand erect with the lower end fixed in a step
the foremast steps abaft the forecastle
transitive verb
1. : to take by moving the feet in succession
rose and stepped three paces — Rudyard Kipling
2.
a. : to move (the foot) in any direction : set , place
the first man who stepped foot on the enemy's soil — S.G.W.Benjamin
b. : to move over or travel across on foot : traverse
proud too … of stepping this famous pavement — Virginia Woolf
deer step the highways — Grace H. Flandrau
3. : to go through the steps of : perform
step a minuet
4. : to make erect by fixing the lower end in a step
a small pole stepped in a block of wood served as a mast — Bernard DeVoto
5. : to measure by steps
have stepped more ground … than any man in the country — Samuel Lover
— often used with off or out
step off 50 yards
6. : to provide or furnish with steps : make steps in
step a key
7. : to construct or arrange in or as if in steps : build in steps
was … stepped to ensure that the winter rains did not wash the whole lot into the sea — Brendan Maguire
the house is stepped down the slope — Siegfried Giedion
craggy peaks with terraces stepped up the sides — Time
•
- step on it
III. noun
or step aerobics also step training
: a form of aerobics that involves repeatedly stepping on and off a raised platform