step

Verb

• move or proceed as if by steps into a new situation
  • She stepped into a life of luxury
    
  • he won't step into his father's footsteps
    

• measure (distances) by pacing
  • step off ten yards
    

• place (a ship's mast) in its step

• walk a short distance to a specified place or in a specified manner
  • step over to the blackboard
    

• move with one's feet in a specific manner
  • step lively
    

• furnish with steps
  • The architect wants to step the terrace
    

• treat badly
  • This boss abuses his workers
    
  • She is always stepping on others to get ahead
    

• cause (a computer) to execute a single command

• put down or press the foot, place the foot
  • For fools rush in where angels fear to tread
    
  • step on the brake
    

• shift or move by taking a step
  • step back
    

Noun

• a sequence of foot movements that make up a particular dance
  • he taught them the waltz step
    

• a solid block joined to the beams in which the heel of a ship's mast or capstan is fixed

• a mark of a foot or shoe on a surface
  • the police made casts of the footprints in the soft earth outside the window
    

• a musical interval of two semitones

• the sound of a step of someone walking
  • he heard footsteps on the porch
    

• a short distance
  • it's only a step to the drugstore
    

• relative position in a graded series
  • always a step behind
    
  • subtle gradations in color
    
  • keep in step with the fashions
    

• support consisting of a place to rest the foot while ascending or descending a stairway
  • he paused on the bottom step
    

• the act of changing location by raising the foot and setting it down
  • he walked with unsteady steps
    

• the distance covered by a step
  • he stepped off ten paces from the old tree and began to dig
    

• any maneuver made as part of progress toward a goal
  • the situation called for strong measures
    
  • the police took steps to reduce crime
    

Related words

• Synonyms: 
  pace , mistreat , maltreat , abuse , ill-use , ill-treat , tread , dance step , footprint , footmark , tone , whole tone , whole step , footfall , footstep , stone's throw , gradation , stair , stride , measure