- step
- [[t]ste̱p[/t]]
♦steps, stepping, stepped1) N-COUNT If you take a step, you lift your foot and put it down in a different place, for example when you are walking.
I took a step towards him...
She walked on a few steps...
I followed her, five steps behind...
He heard steps in the corridor.
2) VERB If you step on something or step in a particular direction, you put your foot on the thing or move your foot in that direction.[V prep/adv] This was the moment when Neil Armstrong became the first man to step on the Moon...
[V prep/adv] She accidentally stepped on his foot on a crowded commuter train...
[V prep/adv] I tried to step back, but he held my upper arms too tightly.
3) N-COUNT Steps are a series of surfaces at increasing or decreasing heights, on which you put your feet in order to walk up or down to a different level.This little room was along a passage and down some steps...
A flight of stone steps leads to the terrace.
Syn:stairs4) N-COUNT A step is a raised flat surface in front of a door.→ See also doorstepA little girl was sitting on the step of the end house...
Leave empty milk bottles on the step.
5) N-COUNT: oft N prep/adv A step is one of a series of actions that you take in order to achieve something.He greeted the agreement as the first step towards peace...
She is not content with her present lot and wishes to take steps to improve it...
The elections were a step in the right direction, but there is a lot more to be done.
6) N-COUNT A step in a process is one of a series of stages.The next step is to put the theory into practice...
Aristotle took the scientific approach a step further.
Syn:7) N-COUNT The steps of a dance are the sequences of foot movements which make it up.Syn:8) N-SING: poss N Someone's step is the way they walk.He quickened his step...
There was a real spring in her step.
9) N-PLURAL Steps are the same as a stepladder. [BRIT]10) PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR If you stay one step ahead of someone or something, you manage to achieve more than they do or avoid competition or danger from them.Successful travel is partly a matter of keeping one step ahead of the crowd...
Businessmen cluster together to get ideas, tips, personal contacts anything to get a step ahead of the computer.
...nations only a few steps ahead of famine.
11) PHRASE: PHR after v If people who are walking or dancing are in step, they are moving their feet forward at exactly the same time as each other. If they are out of step, their feet are moving forward at different times.They were almost the same height and they moved perfectly in step...
They jogged in silence a while, faces lowered, out of step...
She slipped her hand into his and fell into step beside him.
12) PHRASE: usu PHR with n If people are in step with each other, their ideas or opinions are the same. If they are out of step with each other, their ideas or opinions are different.Moscow is anxious to stay in step with Washington...
The British Government is once more out of step with world opinion.
13) PHRASE If you tell someone to step on it, you are telling them to go faster or hurry up. [INFORMAL]We've only got thirty-five minutes so step on it.
Syn:14) PHRASE: PHR with v, PHR n If you do something step by step, you do it by progressing gradually from one stage to the next.I am not rushing things and I'm taking it step by step...
Follow our simple step-by-step instructions.
15) PHRASE If someone tells you to watch your step, they are warning you to be careful about how you behave or what you say so that you do not get into trouble.Phrasal Verbs:- step in- step out- step upSyn:be careful
English dictionary. 2008.
