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Step

//stɛp// name, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Proper Noun

1
Initialism of Smart Traveler Enrollment Program. US, abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
2
Acronym of Sixth Term Examination Paper. UK, abbreviation, acronym, alt-of

Noun

1
An advance or movement made from one foot to the other; a pace.
"Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear."
2
A stepchild. colloquial
"[Krazy Kat, after complimenting a woman on her nice polite little child:] Boy or girl? [Woman:] Step – but well brung up."
3
any maneuver made as part of progress toward a goal wordnet
4
A rest, or one of a set of rests, for the foot in ascending or descending, as a stair, or a rung of a ladder.
"The breadth of every single step or stair should be never less than one foot."
5
A stepsibling. colloquial
"So for Richard and Barbara, Jeff and Kari, the impossibly varied collection of steps and halves that is another legacy of my father."

Show 29 more definitions

6
the act of changing location by raising the foot and setting it down wordnet
7
The part of a spade, digging stick or similar tool that a digger's foot rests against and presses on when digging; an ear, a foot-rest.
8
a sequence of foot movements that make up a particular dance wordnet
9
The button joining a glass's stem to its foot.
10
support consisting of a place to rest the foot while ascending or descending a stairway wordnet
11
A distinct part of a process; stage; phase.
"He improved step by step, or by steps."
12
a solid block joined to the beams in which the heel of a ship's mast or capstan is fixed wordnet
13
A running board where passengers step to get on and off the bus.
"The driver must have a clear view of the step in order to prevent accidents."
14
a mark of a foot or shoe on a surface wordnet
15
The space passed over by one movement of the foot in walking or running.
"One step is generally about three feet, but may be more or less."
16
a musical interval of two semitones wordnet
17
A small space or distance.
"It is but a step."
18
the sound of a step of someone walking wordnet
19
A print of the foot; a footstep; a footprint; track.
20
the distance covered by a step wordnet
21
A gait; manner of walking.
"The approach of a man is often known by his step."
22
a short distance wordnet
23
Proceeding; measure; action; act.
"The reputation of a man depends on the first steps he makes in the world."
24
relative position in a graded series wordnet
25
A walk; passage. in-plural
"Conduct my steps to find the fatal tree."
26
A portable framework of stairs, much used indoors in reaching to a high position. in-plural
27
A framing in wood or iron which is intended to receive an upright shaft; specifically, a block of wood, or a solid platform upon the keelson, supporting the heel of the mast.
28
One of a series of offsets, or parts, resembling the steps of stairs, as one of the series of parts of a cone pulley on which the belt runs.
29
A bearing in which the lower extremity of a spindle or a vertical shaft revolves.
30
The interval between two contiguous degrees of the scale.
"Usage note: The word tone is often used as the name of this interval; but there is evident incongruity in using tone for indicating the interval between tones. As the word scale is derived from the Italian scala, a ladder, the intervals may well be called steps."
31
A change of position effected by a motion of translation.
"A change of position effected by a motion of translation will be called a step."
32
A constant difference between consecutive values in a series.
"Printing from 0 to 9 with a step of 3 will display 0, 3, 6 and 9."
33
Kick scooter. Netherlands, slang
34
Stepping (style of dance)

Verb

1
To move the foot in walking; to advance or recede by raising and moving one of the feet to another resting place, or by moving both feet in succession. intransitive
"A “moving platform” scheme[…]is more technologically ambitious than maglev trains even though it relies on conventional rails. Local trains would use side-by-side rails to roll alongside intercity trains and allow passengers to switch trains by stepping through docking bays."
2
move or proceed as if by steps into a new situation wordnet
3
To walk; to go on foot; especially, to walk a little distance. intransitive
"Come one, come all. Step right up!"
4
measure (distances) by pacing wordnet
5
To walk slowly, gravely, or resolutely. intransitive
"Home from his Morning-Task , the Swain retreats, His flock before him stepping to the fold."

Show 15 more definitions

6
place (a ship's mast) in its step wordnet
7
To dance.
"At arms length with left hands clasped they moved back where facing each other they stepped in time to their dance embrace."
8
shift or move by taking a step wordnet
9
To move mentally; to go in imagination. figuratively, intransitive
"They are stepping almost three thousand years back into the remotest antiquity."
10
put down or press the foot, place the foot wordnet
11
To set, as the foot. transitive
"One of the women, Elsie, stepped her foot inside to help the woman."
12
walk a short distance to a specified place or in a specified manner wordnet
13
To fix the foot of (a mast) in its step; to erect. transitive
"We put everything straight, stepped the long-boat's mast for our skipper, who was in charge of her, and I was not sorry to sit down for a moment."
14
move with one's feet in a specific manner wordnet
15
To advance a process gradually, one step at a time. transitive
16
furnish with steps wordnet
17
To depart. intransitive, slang
"You best step, cuz things are about to jump off."
18
treat badly wordnet
19
To be confrontational. intransitive, slang
"You tryna be steppin right now? You better bring it if so."
20
cause (a computer) to execute a single command wordnet

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English steppen, from Old English steppan (“to step, go, proceed, advance”), stepe (“step”), from Proto-West Germanic *stappjan, from Proto-Germanic *stapjaną (“to step”), *stapiz (“step”), from Proto-Indo-European *stebʰ- (“to support, stomp, curse, be amazed”). Cognate with West Frisian stappe (“to step”), North Frisian stape (“to walk, trudge”), Dutch stappen (“to step, walk”), Walloon steper (“to walk away, leave”), German stapfen (“to trudge, stomp, plod”) and further to Slavic Polish stąpać (“to stomp, stamp, step, tread”), Russian ступать (stupatʹ) and Polish stopień (“step, stair, rung, degree”), Russian степень (stepenʹ). Related to stamp, stomp.

Etymology 2

Etymology 3

Clipping of stepchild and stepsibling.

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