transitive verb
1. : to increase the voltage of (a current) by means of a transformer
2. : to increase, augment, or advance by or as if by steps
the amount of salt mined can be materially stepped up — R.E.Crist
radio and television have stepped up … the tempo of the news — F.L.Mott
3. : to give a promotion to
you're going to be stepped up to head clerk — Frederick Way
intransitive verb
1. : to come forward often in an interfering, inopportune, or unguarded manner
time for teachers to step up and say that there is nothing wrong with teaching something — James Binney
2. : to undergo an increase
world trade is stepping up — Kiplinger Washington Letter
3. : to receive a promotion
stepping up to the chief executive's chair — Current Biography