| 释义 |
▪ I. step, n.1|stɛp|
Forms: α. 1 stæpe, 1–2 pl. stapas, 3–4 stape, (3 pl. stapen), 4–5 stap(pe, 6 stapp, pl. stapys, (7 stiape), 9 Sc. stap. β. 1 stępe, 2–3 steape, 3–5 stepe. γ. 1 pl. steppan, 3–7 stepp(e, (6 pl. steppen), 3– step.
[OE. stæpe, stępe str. masc.:—OTeut. type *stapi-z, f. root *stap-: see step v. The precisely equivalent form is not found in continental Teut., but cognate and synonymous ns. are (M)LG., (M)Du. stap (inflected stapp-), OHG. (MHG., rare mod.G.) stapf:—OTeut. type *stappo-z; also OHG. stapfo wk. masc. (MHG. stapfe masc., fem., mod.G. stapfe(n masc., stapfe fem.):—OTeut. type *stappon-. The mod. form of the n. does not directly represent the OE. stæpe, stępe, but the rare OMercian stęppe or stęppa, which is influenced by the verb.]
I. Action of stepping.
1. a. An act of bodily motion consisting in raising the foot from the ground and bringing it down again in a fresh position; usually, an act of this kind as constituting by repetition the progressive motion of a human being or animal in walking, running, or climbing.
false step: see false a. 6. hop, step, and jump: see hop n.2 3.
a1023Wulfstan Hom. (1883) 302 ælc þæra stæpa and fotlæsta, þe we to cyricean weard..ᵹestæppað. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 6942 Hire legges bare bineþe þe kne þat me miȝte ech stape ise. a1300Cursor M. 5194 Israel wit þis vplepp þat moght noght forwit strid a step. c1380Sir Ferumb. 3989 He prykeþ hem forþ wyþ such an eyr, þat at euery stape sprong out þat fyr þat þay made þanne. 1387Trevisa Higden VII. 527 (MS. β) Ȝif heo wole go barfot for hir silf foure stappes and for the bischop fyve stappes, continulich uppon nyne solow schares brennyng and fuyre hote. 1538Elyot Dict., Gradior, to go by steppes. 1574–1794 [see stealing ppl. a.]. 1617Moryson Itin. i. 22 On this side the City they shew a stone, whence they say, the Saint called Aurelia passed the lake..at one step. 1667Milton P.L. xii. 648 With wandring steps and slow. 1750Gray Elegy 99 Brushing with hasty steps the dews away. 1784Cowper Task vi. 564 An inadvertent step may crush the snail That crawls at ev'ning in the public path. 1825Scott Talism. ii, What do you in the desert with an animal which sinks over the fetlock at every step? 1829― Anne of G. xxix, If you will walk a few steps this way. 1867A. J. Wilson Vashti xxix, To-day her manner was excited, and her steps betrayed very unusual impatience.
b. contextually. A footstep or footfall considered in regard to its audibility.
1605Shakes. Macb. ii. i. 57 Thou sowre and firme-set Earth Heare not my steps. 1797Mrs. Radcliffe Italian xviii, The steps of travellers seldom broke upon the silence of these regions. 1816Scott Antiq. x, Step after step Lovel could trace his host's retreat along the various passages. 1879Blackw. Mag. Aug. 180 There were steps coming down the staircase, and voices talking. Mod. How did you know who it was, when you did not turn your head? I knew him by his step.
c. Manner of stepping or treading; one's stride.
a1000Riddles xciii. [lxxxviii.] 10 Strong on stæpe. c1470Henry Wallace ii. 407 With a rud step Wallace coud eftyr glide. 1677N. Cox Gentl. Rec. i. (ed. 2) 68 All Harts which have a long step will stand up very long. 1686R. Blome Gentl. Recr. ii. 78/2 When the Huntsman endeavoureth to find a Hart by the Slot, and then mind his Step to know whether he is great or long, then say, He is known by his Gate. 1736Gray Statius ii. 2 With sturdy step and slow, Hippomedon. 1832Lytton Eugene A. i. vi, There is no bound in our step. 1863Geo. Eliot Romola xii, Tito walked along with a light step. 1870E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. I. 13 His step was steady and his voice firm.
d. Mil. One of the various paces taught in drill; as slow step or quick step.
1798Washington Lett. Writ. 1893 XIV. 18 To train troops to the ‘quick step’. 1802C. James Milit. Dict. s.v., Back Step, a step taken to the rear from any position without any change of aspect. 1802–: see quick step. 1806–: see goose-step n. 1833Balance step [see balance n. 22]. 1847Infantry Man. (1854) 7 Slow Step... The recruit is to be taught to take 75 of these steps in a minute.
e. Dancing. Any one of the various paces taught by the master; esp. the gliding movement formerly used in the quadrille and other dances (see chassé n.). Also, a person's individual manner of pacing in the dance.
1678Gailhard Complete Gentl. ii. 49 A Master teaches the steps, but the grace, the carriage, and the free motion of the body must chiefly come from us. 1698Farquhar Love & Bottle ii. ii, My Dancing-Master has forbid me any more, lest I should discompose my steps. 1717Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to Pope 1 Apr., The steps are varied according to the pleasure of her that leads the dance. 1815Scott Guy M. xxix, I have even taught her some of La Pique's steps. 1859Habits Gd. Society v. 206 ‘Steps’, as the chasser of the quadrille is called, belong to a past age, and even ladies are now content to walk through a quadrille. 1884‘Edna Lyall’ We Two ix, Captain Golightly had the most delicious step imaginable. 1885W. J. Fitzpatrick Life T. N. Burke I. 16 They never saw him dance, though his small feet seemed naturally formed for ‘steps’.
f. Chiefly pl. Any of various children's games (see quots.). Cf. Grandmother's (Foot)steps s.v. grandmother n. 1 d.
1909J. H. Bancroft Games for Playground 188 Step... The object of the game is for the players who are lined up in the rear to advance forward until they cross the line where the counter is stationed [etc.]. 1940N. Marsh Surfeit of Lampreys (1941) ix. 127 The childish game of Steps in which, whenever the ‘he’ has his back turned, the players creep nearer. 1969I. & P. Opie Children's Games vi. 189 ‘May I?’ as the usual name, but sometimes the game is known as ‘Steps’, ‘All Sorts’, ‘Walk to London’, ‘Variety’, or ‘Mother, May I?’.
2. pl. Progress by stepping or treading; a person's movements, his goings and comings, the course which he follows. In many phrases, as to bend or direct one's steps (to a place, etc.); to retrace, tread back, one's steps (see retrace v. 3, 3 b, tread v. 2 b); to conduct, guide a person's steps; to attend, dog (a person's) steps; all used both lit. and fig.
c1000Ags. Ps. xvi. 5 Ᵹeriht, Drihten, mine stæpas on þine weᵹas. a1340Hampole Psalter xvi. 6 Þat my steppis be noght stirid. a1500London Lyckpeny i, To london once my stepps I bent. 1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iii. ii. 304 Threefold Vengeance tend vpon your steps. 1596― Tam. Shr. iii. ii. 141 Were it not that my fellow schoolemaster Doth watch Bianca's steps so narrowly. 1598Brandon Octavia iv. E 5 b, Honour attend thy steps. 1693Dryden Ovid's Met., Acis & Galatea 56 A Pine..He wielded for a Staff; his steps to guide. 1742Gray Adversity 29 Wisdom..And Melancholy..Still on thy solemn steps attend. 1812Brackenridge Views Louisiana (1814) 46 The river pursues a zig zag course for forty or fifty miles, constantly returning upon its steps. 1842Tennyson ‘Flow down, cold rivulet’ 3 No more by thee my steps shall be. 1856E. Capern Poems (ed. 2) 151 And may no rude steps intrude On thy happy solitude. 1858E. J. Trelawny Shelley etc. (1887) 184 Envy, malice and hatred bedogged his steps. 1885‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay ii, He directed his steps to the hotel.
3. fig.
a. An action or movement which leads towards a result; a particular move or advance in a course of action; one of a series of proceedings or measures; also in phr. a step in the right direction; a step up, a rise in social status; a higher position on a ladder of success.
1549Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. 1 John iii. 11–17 For in dede the hate of the neghbour is a step vnto murther. 1602Chettle Hoffman i. (1631) B 4, The first step to reuenge, this seane is donne. 1605Shakes. Lear i. i. 231 No vnchaste action or dishonoured step. 1656in J. Simon Ess. Irish Coins (1749) 125 The expedients and steps for this worke are many. 1663Patrick Pilgrim xxiv. (1687) 266 How hard do most Men find the first step to any Science. 1719De Foe Crusoe ii. (Globe) 395 The Belief that the Savages were all kill'd, made our two Men come boldly out from the Tree before they had charg'd their Guns again, which was a wrong Step. 1722Wollaston Relig. Nat. ix. 171 Every motion and step in life should be conducted by reason. 1827Faraday Chem. Manip. vii. (1842) 200 The best preparatory step is to insure the cleanness and dryness of the retort. 1841Penny Cycl. XXI. 181/2 That prince deprived the town of its municipal franchises, a step which much depressed it. 1849R. Patterson (title) First steps to Zoology. 1860Hook Lives Abps. II. ii. 144 The next step was to assert the royal supremacy. 1877C. Reade Woman-Hater I. i. 190 A little money was given her for a bad purpose. She has used it for a frivolous one. That is ‘a step in the right direction’—jargon of the day. 1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 273/1 The first step in the preparation of cotton yarn. 1913Times 7 Aug. 8/3 An anatomical prognosis that marked a great step forward. 1919H. S. Walpole Jeremy xii. 294 Going to school..was a mixed business; but the balance was now greatly to the good. It was a step in the right direction towards liberty and freedom. 1926N. Coward Easy Virtue ii. 86, I don't consider my position in this house a step up... It's been..the most demoralising experience. 1939L. M. Montgomery Anne of Ingleside xxi. 137 ‘It'll be a step up for a Plummer if you marry a Mitchell,’ Ma said. 1954Encounter May 52/1 Eventually she became a model—a further step-up—and she received her first film-part in that capacity. 1974J. Pope-Hennessy R. L. Stevenson i. 32 The Thomas Stevensons..made..a final move to..Heriot Row. This was in all senses a step up, for Heriot Row..was considered one of the most delectable residential streets in Edinburgh. 1976Glasgow Herald 26 Nov. 6/1 Extensions of the fishing limits around our coasts to 200 miles..are a step in the right direction.
b. A stage in a gradual process.
1811Pinkerton Petral. I. 151 The first step in the process of crystallisation is the formation of grains; the second is [etc.]. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 14 The regularity with which the steps of the argument succeed one another.
c. Astronautics. = stage n. 12 b.
1932D. Lasser Conquest of Space vi. 103 Each step, as it is called, is a complete rocket motor, containing fuel, combustion chambers, exhausts, etc. 1956Spaceflight I. 5/2 Each extra step multiplies the total weight by a factor of up to ten, so that..rockets of more than five stages are not often contemplated. 1966H. O. Ruppe Introd. Astronautics I. ii. 35 There are cases when a two-step design can do the mission but a one-step rocket cannot.
4. a. In phrases which refer to the action of walking evenly with another, putting the right and left foot alternately forward at the same moment with the corresponding foot of the other person; as in step and its opposite out of step (with); step for step (with); to keep step (with; also to music, etc.); † to tell steps with. Also fig.
1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, i. ii. 43, I..front but in that File Where others tell steps with me. 1784Cowper Task v. 18 The shapeless pair, As they design'd to mock me, at my side Take step for step. 1844Mrs. Browning Rhapsody Life's Progr. viii. I could walk, step for step, with an angel beside, On the heaven-heights of truth. 1852Thackeray Esmond i, v, The officer, who rode alongside him step for step. 1858Lovejoy in Congressional Globe 18 Feb. 754/2 We hear about keeping step to the music of the Union. 1876–89Bridges Growth of Love xxxvi, Wherefore my feet go out of step with time. 1896A. E. Housman Shropshire Lad lviii, When I came last to Ludlow..Two friends kept step beside me. 1898Weekly Register 15 Jan., We need not go in step with the Bishops over the whole ground exhaustively surveyed.
b. Electr. in step: (of two or more alternating currents) having the same frequency and always in the same phase. Similarly out of step.
1903W. Rogers in Electr. Engin. 25 Dec. 965/2 The secondary voltages are always in step, owing to the primaries being excited off the same mains. 1961Listener 9 Nov. 768/2 There is also the problem, with direct current lines, of providing what is called the reactive power—power where the current is out of step with the voltage—for the operation of converter equipment.
5. step by step.
a. Moving one foot after the other continuously; fig. by successive degrees, by gradual and regular progress, with pauses at regular intervals.
1581E. Campion in Confer. ii. (1584) N iiij, That..bodie..ascended vpward steppe by steppe. 1701Norris Ideal World i. ii. 26 If a man does but think and reason on from one thing to another, step by step, in a methodical train. 1732Berkeley Alciphr. i. §16, I have been drawn into it step by step through several preliminaries. 1870Thornbury Tour rd. Eng. II. xxiii. 119 Step by step Wykeham rose to the highest dignities. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 173 The revolution which human nature desires to effect step by step in many ages. 1885‘F. Anstey’ Tinted Venus iii. 32 He had retired step by step before her. 1893[see sense 5 c]. 1966McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. XIII. 355/1 A shaft which can be driven step-by-step in a vertical direction and subsequently can be moved step-by-step in a rotary direction.
b. Keeping pace with another; at the same rate of progress. (Cf. step for step in 4.)
1565Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Confero, Gradum conferre, to goe as faste as an other: to sette steppe by steppe. 1580Tho. M. Pref. Verses 29 in Baret's Alvearie, Euen step, by step, in following of his feete, In rightest waies. 1610Shakes. Temp. iii. iii. 78 Lingring perdition..shall step by step attend You, and your wayes. 1766H. Walpole Let. to Selwyn 31 Jan., I go step by step with the British Ambassador. 1802M. Edgeworth Moral T., Forester xiv, Whilst he followed him, step by step, through his instructive narrative. 1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 594 It [i.e. diarrhœa] disappeared step by step with the skin-trouble.
c. attrib. or quasi-adj. = that moves or advances step by step; esp. (of mechanisms and the like) moving with pauses at regular intervals; spec. in Teleph., with reference to one type of automatic switching, in which successive switches establish contact by a step-by-step movement first in a vertical and then horizontally in a rotary direction.
1803G. Ellis Let. in Lockhart Scott (1837) I. xi. 401, I am unable to guide my elephants in that quiet and decorous step-by-step march which the nature of such animals requires. 1813Examiner 11 Jan. 19/2 We beg the reader to give them a calm{ddd}step-by-step perusal. 1845Brit. Pat. 10,838 15 The Invention of causing the two elementary actions..to produce a step by step motion of an indicator in two contrary directions, for the purpose of giving signals. 1879Specifications of Patents (U.S.) 9 Dec. 392/2 An electro-automatic central [station] for telephone exchanges provided with a step-by-step action. 1889Engineering 4 Oct. 386/2 The step-by-step advance of the platen somewhat resembles that in the Caligraph. 1893Sloane Electr. Dict., Step-by-step Telegraphy, a system of telegraphy in which in the receiving instrument a hand is made to move step-by-step, with an escape movement around a dial. 1911A. B. Smith Mod. Amer. Telephony xxvi. 700 Their devices were usually based on some step-by-step ratchet action. 1933[see strowger]. 1938G. H. Sewell Amateur Film-Making iv. 46 The apparatus available to the amateur printer is all of the step-by-step type. Here the films remain stationary for a fraction of time opposite the printing aperture while the exposure is made. 1973[see strowger].
d. fig. Involving or comprising a series of distinct stages or operations, often devised to facilitate the accomplishment of something.
1918C. I. Lewis Survey of Symbolic Logic ii. 134 This is a ‘step by step’ definition. 1937Michell & Belz Elem. Math. Analysis II. x. 608 The elementary fractions are of the first type.., as we shall now demonstrate by the use of a step-by-step process. 1957K. A. Wittfogel Oriental Despotism 284 The step-by-step rise of a new system of landed property. 1968Daily Tel. 8 Nov. 17 Very clear instructions and step-by-step diagrams for making a glove puppet. 1980‘R. B. Dominic’ Attending Physician xx. 182 [He] had been subjecting Fournier's narrative to step-by-step dissection.
6. to make or take a step.
a. To perform the act of moving the foot as in walking or climbing. Cf. F. faire un pas.
to make or take but one step (from — to —): to pass the interval in a single stride.
1532More Confut. Tindale 138 As from y⊇ shotte of a gonne a man were metely saufe, that had ere the gonne were losed, made a steppe asyde .xv. hundred myle from it. 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. ii. iii. 193 Weele consecrate the steps that Aiax makes, When they goe from Achilles. 1678Bunyan Pilgr. i. 43 How many steps have I took in vain. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. ii. 60 They had hardly made one step, when they returned with all speed. 1746G. Adams Microgr. Illustr. 142 A general Description of the common Steps a Polype makes in moving from Place to Place. 1748Richardson Clarissa VI. 349 He had the insolence to lay hands on me: And I made him take but one step from the top to the bottom of a pair of stairs. 1798S. Lee Canterb. T., Young Lady's T. II. 503 He..made but one step from the door to the bed. 1842Borrow Bible in Spain xxxii, Many is the weary step you will have to make before you reach Giyon and Oviedo. 1859Tennyson Elaine 390 She stay'd a minute, Then made a sudden step to the gate.
†b. To make a short journey to (a place or person). Obs.
1670Cotton Espernon i. iv. 144 Making a step into Gascony to Visit Madam de la Valette, his Mother. 1685Evelyn Mrs. Godolphin (1888) 217 Often have I knowne her privately slipp away..to make a stepp to some miserable poor sick Creature. a1701Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1732) 1 Intending to make only a short step that Evening. 1733Swift Let. to Lady B. Germain 8 Jan., I..was resolved to take a step to Paris for my health.
†c. To perform a stage in a journey. Obs.
1695tr. Misson's Voy. Italy II. 305, I..intend..only to run over the several Steps that we made in our Voyage. 1829Scott Anne of G. xix, That good Christians may bestow their alms upon him, and so make a step on their road to Heaven.
d. fig. to take a step or steps: to perform a move or moves in a course of action; to take action or measures towards attaining an end. Similarly to make a step or steps (now rare).
to take the necessary steps: often, to take the action prescribed by law as necessary to attain some implied object, e.g. the enforcement of a debt.
a1628Preston New Covt. (1634) 53 Thou takest not a steppe into any action..but it is ruled and over-ruled by the Lord. 1737Gentl. Mag. VII. 150/1 These, Sire, are the principal Steps to be taken in order to reform your State. 1775Sheridan Duenna iii. i, How shall I entreat your pardon for the rash step I have taken? 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 44 James now took a step which greatly disconcerted the whole Anglican party. 1867Trollope Chron. Barset II. xlvii. 33 He wishes that I should take some step in the matter. 1885Law Rep., 10 App. Cases 386 The owner..has taken no steps to disabuse them of that belief. 1891Leeds Mercury 2 May 6/5 Steps have already been taken to suppress this demoralising traffic.
1675Temple Wks. (1731) II. 340 This must be the first open Step that can be made towards the Peace. a1715Burnet Own Time (1823) I. 333 To make some steps towards the bringing in of their new religion. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. vii. II. 233 Every step which they made towards union increased the influence of him who was their comon head. 1888F. Hume Mme. Midas Prol., Come, let us make the first step towards our wealth.
7. a. The space traversed by the movement of one foot beyond the other in walking or running; a pace. Hence as a measure of length or distance, sometimes vague, sometimes defined, as military step (see quot. 1862).
c975Rushw. Gosp. Matt. v. 41 Mille passus, þusend steppan [c 1000 stapa]. c1000ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 147/23 Passus, stæpe. c1250Owl & Night. 1592 Vych stape hire þinkþ a Mile. a1490Botoner Itin. (1778) 123 Navis continet 36 steppys meos; et longitudo chori continet circa 60 steppys. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII 41 b, A lyttell brooke, called Sandyfforde, whyche is but a mans step ouer. 1663Patrick Pilgrim (1687) 304, I remember once that I met with a Man that thought he wanted not above two or three steps of the Gate of Jerusalem. 1703Cibber She wou'd, etc. iv. 56 Move but a step,..this Minute is thy last. 1711Swift Jrnl. to Stella 15 May, It is two good miles, and just five thousand seven hundred and forty-eight steps. 1798Wordsw. We are seven 39 Their graves are green, they may be seen,..Twelve steps or more from my mother's door. 1862W. Paterson Treat. Milit. Drawing & Surv. 17 The military step of 30 inches, of which there are 2112 to a mile. 1887J. Farrell How he died 39 Not another step, or I'll have to pot you!
fig.1780Mirror No. 74 What if I should go a step further, and say [etc.]? 1847J. Yeowell Anc. Brit. Ch. iii. 23 Irenæus, who is but one step removed from St. John himself. 1856N. Brit. Rev. XXVI. 49 This course of reasoning..might well have been pursued some steps further. 1869Huxley in Sci. Opinion 5 May 505/2 There is a long step from the demonstration of a tendency to the estimation of the practical value of that tendency. 1870E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. II. 147 The son went a step further than this.
b. With limitation or negative (expressed or implied): A very short distance; (only, even) the smallest distance.
c1000ælfric Josh. x. 12 Ne gang þu mona onᵹean Achialon anne stæpe furðor. c1300Cursor M. 17704 Ga þou noght o þi hus a stepe. 1535Coverdale 1 Sam. xx. 3 There is but one steppe betwene me & death. 1667Milton P.L. iv. 22 For within him Hell He brings, and round about him, nor from Hell One step no more then from himself can fly By change of place. 1781Cowper Retirement 491 'Tis such an easy walk..; A step if fair. 1784― Ep. Joseph Hill 26 'Tis but a step, sir, just at the street's end. 1815Scott Guy M. xii, I'll slip on my hood and pattens, and gang to Mr. Mac-Morlan mysell..it's hardly a step. 1831Westm. Rev. Jan. 232 There is but one step, said Napoleon, from the sublime to the ridiculous. 1845Lady Dufferin Irish Emigrant 17 'Tis but a step down yonder lane, The little Church stands near. 1876Smiles Sc. Natur. iv. 61 Edward did not know a step of the road.
c. a good, tidy, etc. step: a considerable walking distance. dial.
1768Sterne Sent. Journ., Fragm. II. 128 He had brought the little print of butter..; and as..he had a good step to bring it, he had [etc.]. 1869R. B. Peacock Lonsdale Gloss., Step, a walking distance. 1888Berkshire Gloss. s.v., ‘A goodish step’ means rather a long distance. 1894Blackmore Perlycross 57 The field was a good step from the village.
†d. A square on a chess-board. Obs. rare.
1562J. Rowbotham Playe of Cheasts A vj b, The king..hath libertie to assault thre roumes or stepps as he listeth.
e. The movement through a fixed linear or angular distance made by a stepping device (see stepping ppl. a.) in response to an applied voltage pulse.
1957Control Engin. Jan. 74/1 The simple rugged construction of this new unit leads to high reliability, speeds to 100,000 steps per minute. 1964IEEE Trans. Automatic Control IX. 102/2 Several companies..offer step motors with maximum stepping rates in excess of 3000 steps per second. 1974T. E. Beliny in B. C. Kuo Theory & Applications of Step Motors x. 209 Load torque may actually vary somewhat from step to step.
8. a. [Partly fig. use of sense 12.] A degree in an ascending scale; a remove in an upward process; a grade in rank or promotion. to get the or one's step (Mil.): to be promoted to the next higher grade.
In early writers often used where we should now say grade or degree.
c1000ælfric Gram. v. (Z.) 15 Positvus is se forma stæpe. c1000― Hom. II. 70 On Godes ᵹelaðunge synd þry stæpas ᵹecorenra manna. a1300Cursor M. 29134 Þar es steps thrin þat man mai fall wit-all in sin, egging, liging [Galba lyking], and consent. 1340Ayenb. 46 Þe lecherie of herte zuo heþ vour stapes. 1577Hanmer Eusebius' Anc. Eccl. Hist. iii. xxxiii. 55 Obtayning the first stepp of Apostolical succession. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, iv. iv. 301 They are as Children but one steppe below. 1601Bp. W. Barlow Serm. Paules Crosse 30, I am not either a penny the richer or a steppe the higher for him. 1641J. Jackson True Evang. T. iii. 168 A graduall expression, growing up to the height of its emphasis by foure steps. 1779Mirror No. 25 This contempt of authority, and affectation of fashion, has gone a step lower in my household. 1781Cowper Retirem. 722 One [friend]..Will stand advanc'd a step above the rest. 1801G. Rose Diaries (1860) I. 348 It might be desirable to confer the..step in the peerage on Lord Nelson. 1821Scott Let. in Lockhart (1839) VI. 316, I trusted you would get the step within the twelve months that the corps yet remains in Europe. 1829J. Donovan tr. Catech. Counc. Trent ii. vii, After first tonsure, the next step is to the order of Porter. c1830Mrs. Sherwood Houlston Tracts III. lxxxi. 4 The housemaid..had been at the head of the sweeping-department,..and..by her going Anne was to get a step. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair xxviii, ‘He and I were both shot in the same leg at Talavera.’ ‘Where you got your step,’ said George, with a laugh. 1892Bierce In Midst of Life 124 Each had taken two steps upward in rank. 1902S. Sheldon & H. Mason Altern.-Current Machines 207 Take readings thus by steps of five degrees throughout one complete cycle.
b. Mus. A melodic interval of a single degree of the scale (i.e. a tone or semitone). Cf. leap n.1 7. by step: by progression through a single degree of the scale (i.e. a tone or semitone).
1889E. Prout Harmony (ed. 10) vi. §164 A second inversion may be approached either by leap..or by step..from the root position of another chord. 1907C. E. Kitson Art of Counterpoint iv. 50 If the..third and fourth crotchets are discordant with the C.F. the part must proceed in the same direction by step to the next concord. If the next step will not produce a concord, the passage must be rearranged. 1930A. M. Richardson Helps to Fugue Writing v. 27 If the two missing beats were supplied thus..the result would be impossible cacophony. The only thing to do is to transpose this last group a step lower. 1952A. O. Warburton Melody Writing & Analysis i. 7 When a melodic part moves by step it is said to be ‘conjunct’. When it moves by leap it is ‘disjunct’. 1971A. Hopkins Talking about Sonatas iv. 58 The Exposition of the Hammerklavier ends with three giant steps.
9. a. The mark or impression made by the foot on the ground; a footprint.
c1290S. Eng. Leg. 6/182 Euerech stape þat we stepen for-barnde onder ore fet... For þe foule sunnes þat we duden ore stapen beoth euere i-sene. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 829 He sey the steppis brode of a lyoun. c1400Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) xxiv, He shall say the trace of an herte and eke of þe bucke,..and þat of þe stynkynge beestes, þat men calle vermynn, he shall clepe hem steppes. c1400Ywaine & Gaw. 2889 Lo her the steppes of his stede, Evyn unto him thai wil the lede. c1450Mirk's Festial 152 And þer [he] laft þe steppus of hys fete þroste downe into þe hard erth, þat euer sythen has ben sen. 1530Palsgr. 276/1 Steppe a print of ones fote, trac. 1538Elyot Dict., Peda & Pedatura, the steppe or token of a mannes foote. 1746Francis tr. Horace, Epist. i. i. 105 The Steps, that to thy Den Look forward all, but none return again.
†b. fig. A trace, vestige; mark or indication left by anything material or immaterial. Obs. (Cf. footstep 3.)
1382Wyclif Wisd. ii. 3 Oure lif shal passe as the step of a cloude. 1388― Gen. xli. 21 Tho secounde ȝauen no steppe of fulnesse. c1400Love Bonavent. Mirr. lviii. (Gibbs MS.) 113 Oure lorde reserued in hys gloryouse body þe steppes of hys woundes. 1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) II. 35 As ȝitte the stappes of that famose dyche remayne. 1565Stapleton Fortr. Faith 132 Purging them from all steppes and tokens of Idolatry. 1578J. Foxe in Bk. Chr. Prayers 26 Vnles among the far Ethiopians some old steps of Christianitie peraduenture doe yet remayn.
10. a. to walk in (or † tread) a person's steps, to follow him as he walks; usually fig., follow his example. † Also in phrases of opposite sense, as to swerve from, shun, refuse one's steps. The phr. to follow, († sue, † pursue) a person's steps is perhaps to be referred in part to sense 5.
a1240Ureisun in O.E. Hom. I. 187 He mot foleȝi þine steapes þurh sar and þurh sorewe. 1382Wyclif Rom. iv. 12 To hem that suen the steppis [1534 Tindale, walke in the steppes] of the feith of our fadir Abraham. 1432–50tr. Higden (Rolls) II. 343 Which folowenge the stappes of an oxe made a place, namenge hit Boetia. Ibid. V. 431 The doȝhters of the seide Romilda not foloynge the stappes of theire moder, but lovynge chastite. c1480Henryson Test. Cres. 17 Thair fadirs steppis iustly to persewe. 1513Bradshaw St. Werburge ii. 1508 This Matilde, clerely refusyng The steppes of Sara..And other good matrons. 1538Starkey England 145 In thys processe we wyl take nature for our exampul, and, as nere as we can, folow hyr steppys. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 169 b, Not to swarve from the steppes of the confession at Auspurge. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. 18 A good token is it..of good ground, where the Crowe and the Pye folowe in great number the plowe, scraping in the steppes of the Plowman. 1579–1752 [see tread v. 2 b]. a1586Sidney Ps. xvii. iv, Ledd by thy word, the rav'ners stepps I shun. 1695Hickeringill Lay-Clergy Wks. 1716 I. 322 Arch-bishop Laud did but Lackey it after those, and followed their steps. 1714Barrow's Euclid Pref. 2 Whose Steps I was obliged closely to follow. 1788Gibbon Decl. & F. lix. VI. 72 The jackall..is said to follow the steps, and devour the leavings, of the lion. 1881Illingworth Serm. xi. 149 Thousands upon thousands..have taken courage from their example to follow in their steps.
b. to watch (or mind) one's step, to be careful about one's actions, to tread warily. (Chiefly admonitory.) colloq.
1934‘G. Orwell’ Burmese Days viii. 139 You watch your step. Tom Lackersteen may be a drunken sot, but he's not such a bloody fool that he wants a niece hanging round his neck for the rest of his life. 1935D. L. Sayers Gaudy Night vii. 154, I can have a word with her and tell her to mind her step. 1955M. Gilbert Sky High xii. 168 The Inspector... Bit of an awkward mood... I'd mind my step, if I were you. 1977P. D. James Death of Expert Witness i. 23 He seems to be taking quite an interest in you... You'd better watch your step.
†11. The sole of the foot. Only as a rendering of L. vestigium. Obs.
1382Wyclif 2 Sam. xiv. 25 Fro the stap of the foot [a vestigio pedis] vnto the top, there was not in hym eny spot. 1609Bible (Douay) Deut. xxviii. 65 Neither shal there be resting for the steppe of thy foote.
II. Something on which to place the foot in ascending or descending.
12. a. A flat-topped structure, normally made of stone or wood and some six or seven inches high, used, singly or as one of a series, to facilitate a person's movement from one level to another.
c825Vesp. Psalter xliv. 9 A gradibus eburneis, from stepum elpanbaennum. c1000ælfric Exod. xx. 26 Ne ga þu on stapum to minum weofode. a1300Cursor M. 10589 Þis maiden..Was on þis grece..On þe neþermast stepp don. c1320Cast. Love 740 In þulke..tour Þer stont a trone..Seuene steppes þer beoþ þer-to. 1426–7Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905) 66 For a mason & his man..to make a stayer with iij stappes. 1538Elyot Dict., Scamnum,..a step or grise, wherby a manne gothe vp vnto a high bedde. 1554tr. Doctr. Masse Bk. A iv b, Let there be a benediction of Salt and Water..made by the Priest at the step of the Chauncell. 1567–8Fabric Rolls York Minster (Surtees) 114 For amending and repayring the greases or steppes before the southe doore, 6s. 1637MS. Acc. St. John's Hosp., Canterb., For a great stone to make a stiape vjd. 1705[E. Ward] Hud. Rediv. iv. 16 That dwells in Allies, God knows where, Down seven Steps, and up one Stair. 1823P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 184 Each riser and tread, when fixed together, is called a step. 1847C. Brontë J. Eyre xvii, Adèle and I sat down on the top step of the stairs to listen. 1908[Miss E. Fowler] Betw. Trent & Ancholme 39 The steps down into the Fellows' garden.
fig.1604Shakes. Oth. i. iii. 200 (Qo.), Let me..lay a sentence, Which as a greese or step may helpe these louers Into your fauour. 1605― Macb. i. iv. 48 The Prince of Cumberland! that is a step, On which I must fall downe, or else o're-leape, For in my way it lyes. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. ii. xv. 106 Not like those Masters, who making their Colledges as steps to higher advancement will trample on them to raise up themselves.
b. The height or depth of this.
1662J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 271 This Hall was rais'd three Steps from the Ground. 1877Jefferies Gamekeeper at H. i. (1890) 5 Inside the door the floor of brick is a step below the level of the ground.
c. A foothold cut in a slope of earth or ice.
1860Tyndall Glac. i. xi. 69 Cutting steps in the ice wherever climbing was necessary. 1871Whymper Scrambles Alps x. 230 He cut steps down one side of a sérac. 1892Dent Mountaineering vi. 175 To cut traversing steps is harder than to cut steps down hill.
d. A flat projecting foot-piece, fixed or made to let down when wanted, for entering or alighting from a vehicle; also, a projecting bracket attached to a bicycle to rest the foot on when mounting.
1816Jane Austen Emma I. xiii. 240 They arrived, the carriage turned, the step was let down. 1837Dickens Pickw. iv, The fat boy..let down the steps, and held the carriage door invitingly open. 1841Thackeray Gt. Hoggarty Diam. iii, The carriage steps being let down. 1847Lever Knt. Gwynne xvii, The steps were up, the door banged to,..and the next moment saw the chaise at the end of the street. 1852Thackeray Esmond i. iv, The young page..riding..on the step of my lady's coach. 1877H. H. Griffin Bicycles of Year 8 The step is placed at a convenient distance from the ground, and at the portion of fork best suited to bear the rider's weight. 1882‘Edna Lyall’ Donovan xxxi, By the time the newspaper boy had sprung down from the step [of a railway carriage].
e. Fortif. = banquette 1.
1672J. Lacey tr. Tacquet's Milit. Archit. 18 The Step, or Banquet is built at the foot of all Brestworks on the inside, and is 3 feet thick or broad, and 1½ feet high. 1834–47J. S. Macaulay Field Fortif. (1851) 303 To render the steps or traverses..available for the active, as well as passive defence.
f. Eton Fives. The shallow step which divides the court into an inner and outer part.
1890A. C. Ainger Fives 463 The vertical face of the ‘step’ does not reckon as part of the floor of the court. 1897[see hole n. 4 e]. 1975Oxf. Compan. Sports & Games 290/2 Running across the court is a shallow step 10 ft. (3·05 m.) from the front wall, dividing the court into an inner or upper court and an outer or lower court.
g. to go up the steps: to be committed or appear for trial at a higher court, esp. the Old Bailey. Also in related phrs. slang.
1931[see bottle n.2 1 g (a)]. 1938F. D. Sharpe Sharpe of Flying Squad 334 Up the Steps, being committed to the Sessions or Assizes. 1952‘J. Henry’ Who lie in Gaol iv. 62 They think it's wonderful ‘to go up the steps’—to be sent for trial at the Old Bailey. 1962John o' London's 25 Jan. 82/1 You'll go up the steps.
13. a. A rung or stave of a ladder; each of the flat cross-pieces of a step-ladder.
c1000ælfric Saints' Lives i. 22 Þonne bið he þam men ᵹelic þe..stihð be þære hlæddre stapum oðþæt he to ðæm ænde becume. 1375Barbour Bruce x. 361 He gert Sym of the Ledowss..Of hempyn rapis ledderis ma, With treyn steppis bundin swa, That vald brek apon na kyn wiss. 1530Palsgr. 276/1 Steppe or staffe of a lader, eschellon. 1548Elyot's Dict., Climacter, the rounde or step of a ladder. 1659N. R. Prov., Eng. Fr. etc. 89 Step after step the Ladder's ascended. 1674Churchw. Acc. Pittington etc. (Surtees) 236 A new ladder containing 31 stepps. c1850Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 153 Steps for the Ship's side. The pieces of quartering, with mouldings, nailed to the sides amidships, about 9 inches asunder, from the wale upwards, for the convenience of persons getting on board. 1902J. Oman Vision & Authority i. iv. 30 No step of the ladder by which man climbs equals the first.
b. pl. A step-ladder; also a pair or set of steps. colloq.
1693Evelyn De La Quint. Compl. Gard. II. 17 If that Branch be too high, he must get upon something, either a Ladder, or Steps, to the end that he may Cut it with ease. 1730Inventory R. Woolley's Goods (1732) 11 A Pair of wooden Steps. 1855Trollope Warden xiv. 221 A pretty portable set of steps in one corner of the room. 1861F. W. Robinson No Church I. i. ii. 66 A hammer, and nails, and a pair of steps. Ibid. 67 Steps, nails and hammer were quickly at the disposal of the stranger. 1875Knight Dict. Mech., Steps, a ladder for in-door use.
III. Transferred uses of sense 12.
14. Geol. A fault or dislocation of strata.
1789J. Williams Min. Kingd. I. 23 The single slips, or steps, for they are known by both names, are of various degrees of magnitude. 1824G. Chalmers Caledonia III. ii. §3. 53 This bed [of coal]..when clear of steps and dikes, which frequently occur, at thirty yards' distance, dips one foot in twelve. 1839Ure. Dict. Arts 965 Hitches are small and partial slips, where the dislocation does not exceed the thickness of the coal-seam; and they are correctly enough called steps by the miner. 1886J. Barrowman Sc. Mining Terms 64 Step, a hitch or dislocation of the strata.
15. a. An offset or part resembling a step in outline, singly or in a series; e.g. in the bit of a key.
1674Hooke Animadv. Machina Coelestis etc. 71 Unscrew the Plates, and place them in such order, that the Teeth may gradually follow each other,..and with such steps, that the last Tooth of one Degree, may within one step answer to the first Tooth of the next Degree. 1808in Abridgm. Specif. Patents, Locks etc. (1873) 17 The key..moves the horizontal tumbler or tumblers to certain limit or limits by a step or steps cut in the key nose. 1813Mawe Diamonds (1823) 128 When cut in steps,..it [the peridot] will appear to the greatest advantage. 1815Falconer's Dict. Marine (ed. Burney), Step or Tongue, for the tar-kettle, in rope-making, is made of three inch oak plank [etc.]. 1859F. A. Griffiths Artill. Man. Plate (1862) 112 Steps [of a gun-carriage]. 1862Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 6105, The ‘bits’ or steps on the ‘web’ of the key, that act on the levers inside the lock.
b. (See quot.)
1909N. Hawkins' Mech. Dict., Step of Screw, the distance between two adjacent threads, more commonly termed the pitch of the screw.
c. Aeronaut. An edge built across the float or hull of a seaplane or hydroplane, giving its outline the form of an inverted step and designed to facilitate its separation from the water; on the step, with the part of the hull forward of the step out of the water.
1911Flight 25 Nov. 1026/1 Each hydroplane has two steps, the middle step being halfway back from the bow. 1913Aeroplane 24 Apr. 482/1 The [flying] boat got up on its step in a few yards. 1934W. Nelson Seaplane Design vi. 54 Floats without steps tend to cling to the water with a tenacity that requires abnormal power for the take-off. 1935Sun (Baltimore) 10 Oct. 24/4 As the clipper reached Middle River its speed increased until it was flying over the water on the hydroplane step. 1936J. Grierson High Failure v. 91 After about half a mile of almost imperceptible acceleration, [the seaplane] Robert Bruce ‘got on to the step’ and began to hydroplane. 1952A. Y. Bramble Air-Plane Flight xi. 167 The floats are curiously shaped on their under sides, having a sudden discontinuity of surface known as a ‘step’. 1983D. Stinton Design of Aeroplane ix. 359 It is necessary to break down the suction by ventilation..and this is done by making a step about half-way along the planing bottom, slightly aft of the aircraft CG.
16. Naut. The block in which is fixed the heel of a mast or capstan.
c1000in Cockayne Shrine (1864) 35/15 Hiᵹ fæstniað þone stepe þurh þa þilinge. c1440Promp. Parv. 474/2 Step, where a mast stant yn a schyppe, parastica. 1532[see hound n.2 1]. 1644H. Manwayring Seamans Dict. 102 A Stepp. They call that peece of timber, which is made fast to the Keelson, wherein the maine-mast doth stand, a Stepp: Also those places, and timber, wherein the missen-mast, fore-mast, and the capstaine doe stand, are called Stepps. 1719De Foe Crusoe i. (Globe) 139, I fix'd my Umbrella also in a Step at the Stern, like a Mast. c1850Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 152 Steps for the Capstan. Solid lumps of oak, fixed on the beams, in which the heels of the capstan work. 1912Blackw. Mag. Sept. 342/2 Our mast suddenly gave out, and, breaking at the step, went overboard.
17. Mech.
a. The lower bearing or block on which a vertical pivot, shaft or the like rotates.
1814Buchanan Millwork (1823) 547 The bearings for pivots, at the lower extremity of upright shafts, are denominated steps. 1835Ure Philos. Manuf. 172 Their lower ends [of the spindles] are pointed conically, and turn in brass sockets called steps. 1841S. C. Brees Gloss. Civil Engin., Steps or Bearings, those parts which receive the lower gudgeons of upright shafts. 1860Burn's Gloss. Techn. Terms 12 Step, a pedestal for carrying the brass or bush in which the lower end of a vertical shaft revolves.
b. The lower brass of a journal-box or pillow-block in which a horizontal shaft revolves; also, see quot. 1887.
1875Knight Dict. Mech. 1887D. A. Low Machine Draw. 30 The brass bush [of a pillow block]..is in halves, called brasses or steps.
18. A change in the value of some quantity, esp. voltage, occurring over a negligibly short interval of time. Freq. attrib.
1940in Chambers's Techn. Dict. 806/1. 1958 W. G. Holzbock Autom. Control iii. 20 Assume that Figure 3–3c represents the change in level seen in Figure 3–5 after a step change in valve position..closes the valve slightly. 1959W. I. Caldwell et al. Frequency Response or Process Control ii. 15 If the input to the controller undergoes a step change of 1 psi, then the controller output will be a step equal in magnitude to the setting of proportional gain. 1962Simpson & Richards Physical f Princ. Junction Transistors xv. 372 i0i s the change of output current resulting from the application of a sudden step of input current. 1973Nature 23 Nov. 220/1 Where C is membrane capacitance, i is membrane current and V is the magnitude of the applied voltage step. 1975G. J. King Audio Handbk. ii. 41 Although a perfect step-wave (i.e. one of zero rise time) cannot, of course, be produced, a good evaluation of amplifier rise time is possible.
IV.
19. Comb.: step-bearing = sense 17; step-board, the tread or flat part of a wooden step; step-collar, a collar with a V-shaped opening at the junction of the collar and lapel (cf. step-roll (collar) below); step-cut = trap-cut; also as adj.; step-cutter, cutting (see 12 c); step-dance, a dance intended for the display of special steps by an individual performer; also as v. intr.; hence step-dancer, -dancing; step-fashion adv. = step-wise; step-fault Geol., one of a series of parallel faults with successive falls like steps; also, the compound fault comprising such a series; step flaking Archæol., secondary flaking of a flint tool to produce a strong, ridged cutting edge; step function Math. and Electronics, a function that increases or decreases abruptly from one constant value to another; step-gable = corbie-gable s.v. corbie 3 (cf. stepped (ppl.) a., quot. 1833); hence step-gabled a.; step-girl, a girl who goes out cleaning doorsteps; step-grate, a furnace-grate having the bars arranged step-wise, to promote completeness of combustion; step iron, an iron projection fixed into a wall or the like to serve as a support for the foot when ascending; step-like a., like a step or a series of steps; step motor, a stepping motor (see stepping ppl. a.); step pattern Art Hist., a simple geometric pattern progressing in steps; step-plate, (a) Naut., in iron ships, a plate of iron upon which the mast-heel rests when fixed in position; (b) Mech., a metal bearing; step printer Cinemat. (see quots.); hence (as back-formations) step print v. trans., step printing; step print n. (see quot.); step-pyramid, a monumental pyramid the faces of which are built so as to form a series of large steps; step response, the output of a device in response to a step input (step n. 18); step rocket, a rocket of two or more stages; step-roll (collar), a rolled step-collar (cf. roll-collar); step saver U.S., a kitchen designed to reduce the necessity of walking between units, etc.; also attrib., as step-saver kitchen; hence step-saving a; step-stile, a stile formed by steps projecting from a wall; step-stone, (a) a stepping-stone; now dial.; (b) a stone forming a door-step; step-stool, a stool which can convert into a short stepladder; step wedge Photogr., a line of contiguous rectangles each of a uniform neutral shade but getting progressively darker from white (or light grey) at one end to black (or dark grey) at the other; also transf.; step-vein (see quot.); † step-ward, the ward of a lock nearest the pin; also, the ward of a key nearest the pin or barrel; step-way, a way up or down a flight of steps; step-wheel, a wheel with an edge formed in twelve steps arranged spirally, used in striking-clocks.
1873J. Richards Wood-working Factories 149 The *step-bearings for these machines should be as long and nearly as large in diameter as the top bearings. 1885[Horner] Pattern Making 226 The guide-ring plate E, carries the step bearing of the turbine shaft.
1823P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 191 Proceed with all the succeeding risers and *step-boards until the winders are complete.
1895J. P. Thornton Sectional Syst. Cutting 104 *Step collar vest. 1977Summit (Austin Reed Mag.) Autumn 41 Step collar dress suit..with satin facings {pstlg}69.
1865Emanuel Diamonds 98 The Trap or *Step Cut.
1905C. Davenport Jewellery i. 19 A step-cut diamond..the sides facetted in gradually decreasing sizes.
1884Pall Mall Gaz. 10 June 11/2 Kauffman..is, I believe, generally admitted to be the fastest *step-cutter living.
Ibid. 11/1 It was a very steep bit of *step cutting. 1898Encycl. Sport II. 36/1 (Mountaineering) Ice-slopes and Step-cutting.
1887Kipling Plain Tales from Hills (1888) 103 Orth'ris began rowlin' his eyes an' crackin' his fingers an' dancin' a *step-dance for to impress the Headman. 1946D. Hamson We fell among Greeks xix. 204 The Bishop of Kozáni, who was in full regalia on the speaker's platform, executed a step-dance. 1950A. Clarke Coll. Plays (1963) 297 It was younger than the mayflies That step-danced above it. 1969in Halpert & Story Christmas Mumming in Newfoundland 67 Sometimes janneys ‘step-dance’.
1896Stuart & Park Variety Stage iii. 42 The sentimental vocalist, the male impersonator..and the *step-dancer were familiar performers. 1969in Halpert & Story Christmas Mumming in Newfoundland 214 True step-dancers in ‘Coughlin Cove’ have learned their art from their fathers or grandfathers.
1886St. James's Gaz. 25 Sept. 6/2 Have they learned ‘*step-dancing’?
1748Richardson Clarissa VI. 2 Half a dozen..boys behind him, ranged gradatim, or *step-fashion, according to age and size.
1879Encycl. Brit. X. 305/2 Section of strata cut by *step faults. 1884Peach & Horne in Nature 13 Nov. 35/1 The very preservation of the Durness Basin is due to two normal step-faults.
1931R. A. Smith Sturge Coll. Flints from Britain 30 Implement of triangular section... There is some undercutting along both sides, sometimes called resolved flaking or *step flaking. 1959J. D. Clark Prehist. Southern Afr. vi. 146 The Fauresmith tools were made by using what is known as step flaking. 1971World Archaeol. III. 161 Macroscopic inspection also revealed woodworking wear in the form of distinctive step-flaking (the result of progressive wear and resharpening of the working edge).
1946H. Cramér Math. Methods Statistics vi. 53 Any non-decreasing function..may be represented..as the sum of a *step-function and an everywhere continuous function, both non-decreasing and uniquely determined. 1947R. Lee Electronic Transformers & Circuits iv. 99 It is obtained by applying a step function voltage to the series R8L8C circuit. 1967Oceanogr. & Marine Biol. V. 32 Assuming the sea to be at rest at t = 0, elevations were found due to northerly stress fields, the stress magnitude varying in time either exponentially, or as a step-function, or as a single half sine wave. 1971J. H. Smith Digital Logic iv. 74 In the circuit described here the input signal is a step function.
1921Glasgow Herald 8 Jan. 6 It is a whitewashed house, with *step-gables.
1937Times Lit. Suppl. 18 Dec. 954/3 The *step-gabled houses at Llanedwen. 1978R. Fedden et al. Hughenden Manor (1980) 8 Its delightful step-gabled entrance, wood-strutted to the yard.
1884All Yr. Round 18 Oct. 32/1 It is not a pretty spectacle to see two girls—even *step-girls—toss off their hats and jackets, and ‘go’ for each other in pugilistic fashion.
1869Crookes & Röhrig Kerl's Metallurgy II. 372 Furnaces with *Step Grates.
1912F. N. Taylor Main Drainage of Towns vii. 139 *Step irons are let into the walls of the shaft.., but sometimes a small wrought-iron ladder is substituted. 1973R. D. Symons Where Wagon Led xvi. 260 The wagon was swept down at right angles to the team. My neighbour yelled for the rope, which I threw. He caught the loop and fastened it to the step-iron.
1822J. Parkinson Outl. Oryctol. 225 Ostrea scalarina:..with transverse,..*step-like rugæ. 1855Orr's Circ. Sci., Inorg. Nat. 170 The high step-like terraces, by which one may descend nearly to the water's edge.
1961E. M. Grabbe et al. Handbk. Automation, Computation, & Control III. xxii. 55 Small *step motors have three to six times as much stall torque as the same size a-c servo motor. 1974B. C. Kuo Theory & Applications of Step Motors i. 3 High-speed printers of up to 3000 lines per minute can be driven satisfactorily with step motors.
1908Encycl. Relig. & Ethics I. 842/1 ‘*Step’ patterns occur in the cloisonné settings of Teutonic jewels. 1959E. A. Fisher Anglo-Saxon Archit. & Sculpt. 74 The simple step pattern also was common in Celtic art of the pagan period, though it was rare in Celtic Christian art and may have been an independent invention of the Celtic people.
1869E. J. Reed Shipbuild. xv. 284 The mast steps of the new Indian troop-ships, in which the *step-plate has been worked directly upon the inner-skin plating. 1869Rankine Machine & Hand-tools Pl. I 5, The two worms are..each of them provided with a spherically shaped step-plate, to insure a perfect fit on the rubbing surfaces next to the worms.
1953K. Reisz Technique Film Editing xiii. 207 Shot 32..was too short for the present film and had to be *step-printed to the needed length.
1960O. Skilbeck ABC of Film & TV 125 Step Print. Most Positives are made on a continuous process machine in which they run in contact with the Negative; but for some purposes, *step printing, Frame by frame, is used.
1930Sel. Gloss. Motion Pict. Techn. (Acad. Techn. Bureau Hollywood), *Step printer, machine which prints a positive, a frame at a time. 1959W. S. Sharps Dict. Cinematogr. 120/1 Step printer, a printer in which the film to be printed and the raw stock are moved intermittently, and are stationary whilst being exposed one frame at a time.
1886Encycl. Brit. XX. 124/1 The *step-pyramid or cumulative mastaba.
1959Zimmerman & Mason Electronic Circuit Theory viii. 368 (caption) Approximating the *step response of a linear RC coupling circuit including stray capacitances. 1967Electronics 6 Mar. 9/1 (Advt.), Step response over the full 4½-inch span..is 40 milliseconds.
1932D. Lasser Conquest of Space vi. 104 The *step-rocket will ascend to a far greater height than a unit rocket of the same weight. 1946Sun (Baltimore) 23 Dec. 2/4 The ‘Tiamat’ is a ‘step’ rocket—that is, it has a rocket booster mounted on its tail. 1966H. O. Ruppe Introd. Astronautics I. ii. 26 Optimization of step rockets poses some very interesting problems.
1881Record of Fashion 27 July 178/2 *Step roll is the most suitable style for most of the goods now fashionable. 1901P. N. Hasluck Tailoring 99 Step-roll collar vest.
1967Boston Sunday Globe 23 Apr. b59/3 The large kitchen..is a *stepsaver when the dining room is being used. 1974State (Columbia, S. Carolina) 1 Apr. 9-b/8 (Advt.), Spanish style home includes 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths, cozy den, patio, step saver kitchen with built-ins, enclosed garage and central air.
1978Detroit Free Press 16 Apr. f9/5 (Advt.), 4 bedroom Quad..featuring..*step-saving kitchen with all built-ins.
1904J. Derry Across Derbysh. Moors xii. (ed. 3) 116 A stone *step-stile crosses the wall on the right close beyond Stony Ford.
1605Shuttleworths' Acc. (Chetham Soc.) 169 For xv *steppstonnes for the starres of the said stable (vijd the steppe) viijs ixd. 1868M. H. Smith Sunsh. & Shadow N. York 136 Ten men could not put her off that step-stone.
1966J. Potts Footsteps on Stairs (1967) iii. 38 Hazel had to laugh, just at the sight of him up there on the *step-stool.
1881Raymond Mining Gloss., *Step-vein, a vein alternately cutting through the strata of country-rock, and running parallel with them.
1677Moxon Mech. Exerc. ii. 22 In Fig. 3. AAAA the Cover-plate [of a spring-lock],..E the *Step ward, or Dap ward. In Fig. 4. A the Pin-hole [of a key], B the Step or Dap ward. 1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) X. 111/2 To the cover-plate belong the pin, main-ward, cross-ward, step-ward or dap-ward.
1810Hull Improv. Act 51 Cellar-grate *step-way or hatch-way. 1906H. G. Wells In Days Comet i. i. 26 We walked together..up the stepway and the lanes towards Clayton Crest.
1931Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A. CCXXX. 91 The intensities were estimated by covering part of the lines with a *step-wedge of aluminium foil..and making use of the known absorption-coefficient of aluminium for CuKα rays. 1936F. R. Newnes Technique Colour Photogr. (ed. 2) iii. 39 The print from the blue filter negative will show less contrast than the others... If the white end of the step wedge is white, then the black end will only be a dark grey. 1962Which? May 135/1 A black and white film's characteristic curve can be obtained by photographing a grey step wedge..and measuring the densities of the grey steps in the picture in relation to their known real densities. 1971Jrnl. Oil & Colour Chemists' Assoc. LIV. 881 A method of achieving this was evolved using a step-wedge produced by gradually increasing the exposure in strips across the film.
a1735W. Derham Artif. Clockm. (1759) 7 The Snail or *Step-Wheel in Repeating-Clocks.
20. Combinations with an adv., as step-back, step-down, step-up = an act of stepping backwards, etc.
1603Florio Mountaigne iii. xiii. 658, I begin to perceive a dimnes and weakenes in reading... Loe—heere a steppe⁓backe, and that very sensible. 1833Reg. Instr. Cavalry i. 17 The ‘Step Back’ is performed in the slow time and length of pace, from the halt.
▸ = step aerobics n. at Additions. Chiefly attrib. in step class, step training, etc.
1989Newsday 16 Dec. ii. 7/2 The conclusion was that the energy benefits of step training were virtually the same as running at seven miles an hour because of the effort needed to raise and lower the center of gravity. 1993Flare Aug. 20/1 Low impact, step, body sculpting..there seem to be a million ways to sweat these days. 1996F. Popcorn Clicking iii. 358 Compare their mini-world to Jane Fonda's or even Richard Simmons's with their library of videos, lines of workout clothes, step accessories, tapes. 2001N.Y. Times 8 July ix. 1/2 On a recent Monday evening, with a step class in progress, a spinning class about to begin and every treadmill occupied, four men argued over a squash court reservation.
▸ step aerobics n. a type of aerobic exercise that involves stepping up on to and down from a low portable block, typically performed in time with music.
1985Record (Bergen County, New Jersey) 18 Aug. f14/4 *Step-aerobics is tailored for those who find regular aerobic workouts too strenuous. 1992Premiere Feb. 100/3 Jodie would be a megaseller, because all the women I know would bring her to step aerobics. 2000Monitor (Kampala) 28 Apr. 18/3 The gym where I teach step aerobics, a habit I took up in the days when I identified more with my mother's than my father's people.
▪ II. step, n.2
Colloq. abbrev. of stepfather, step-mother, step-son, etc. Cf. step- and the associated main entries.
1895C. M. Yonge Long Vacation ii. 15 Anyone would have thought those poor boys were her steps, not good old Lamb's. 1913Rowntree & Kendall How Labourer Lives iii. 227 There are three ‘steps’, Mr. Hopwood's children by a former marriage. 1933G. Heyer Why shoot Butler? ii. 23 ‘You should not encourage your friend to talk disloyally about her brother.’.. ‘He's only a ‘step’.’ 1939A. Thirkell Before Lunch ii. 43 She's an angel. Not a bit like a step. I really think she married father so that she could look after Denis and take me about a bit. 1954E. Eager Half Magic 155 Step,..short for step-father. 1971O. Norton Corpse-Bird Cries iv. 68 They're not her natural parents. They're both steps.
▪ III. step, v.|stɛp|
Pa. tense and pple. stepped |stɛpt|. Forms: α. 1 steppan, North. steppa, stepa, 3 steppen, (stepen), 3–7 steppe, 3– step. β. 1 stæppan, 3–5 stappe, stap, 4–5 stapp, stape, 7– Sc. stap. pa. tense. α. 1 stóp, pl. stópon, 3–4 stop, pl. stopen. β. 3 step, steap, steop, pl. stepen, 3–4 stepe. γ. 3–5 stap, 5 stappe. δ. weak forms: 3–4 stapte, 4–5 stapped, -id, 6 stepte, 7 step'd, 7– stepp'd, 5– stept, stepped. pa. pple. α. 1 (be)stapen, 4–5 stape(n. β. 4–5 stope(n, 6 ystope. γ. 6 step, steppte, 6– stept, stepped.
[A Com. WGer. strong verb, with j- present-stem (cf. shape v.). The original conjugation (OTeut. type *stapjan, *stōp-, *stapan-) is completely evidenced only in English and Frisian: OE. stæppan, stęppan, pa. tense stóp, pa. pple. (be)stapen, corresponds to OFris. *steppa (3rd sing. stepth, stapth, subj. steppe), pa. tense stôp, pa. pple. stapen. The present-stem is normally represented also in OHG. stephen (MHG. stepfen), and WFlem. steppen; the strong pa. tense in OS. stôp and in WFris. stoep, which is the only trace of the strong inflexion surviving in any mod.Teut. dialect. The continental WGer. langs. have a synonymous weak v. with pp and without umlaut, (M)LG., (M)Du. stappen, mod.Fris. stappe, OHG. staphôn (MHG., mod.G. stapfen):—WGer. *stappōjan, where the doubled p appears to be due to derivation from the sb. WGer. *stappon- (see step n.1); in LG. and Du., however, the history of the form may be complicated with that of the original j- present.
In OE. the normal form stęppan was Anglian, while WS. had the form stæppan, the anomalous vowel of which has not been satisfactorily accounted for. In ME. the forms with a are confined to certain southern writers (cf. mod.Somerset staap). The present Sc. stap, recorded from the 17th c., appears to be a late development.
The normal strong pa. tense and pple. survive into the 14th and 15th centuries, but beside them appear two analogical formations: steop, stepen, app. modelled on the reduplicating verbs (cf. the similar development in MDu. stiep pa. tense); and stap, stappe of uncertain origin. Beside the regular stapen there is also a new pa. pple. stopen. Weak forms are found from the end of the 13th century, and from the 16th century are universal.
The affinities of the Teut. root *stap- are uncertain. On the assumption that the form with single p has been altered by some analogy from *stapp-, with pp representing Indogermanic pn, possible cognates are OSl. (and Russian) stopa, step, pace, stepenĭ step, degree.]
I. Intransitive.
1. a. To lift the foot and set it down again on the ground in a new position; to lift and set down the feet alternately in walking; to pace, tread. With adv.: To use a (specified) gait or motion of the feet (often of a horse: cf. 6).
to step short (Mil.): see quots. 1802, 1859.
a1000Juliana 374 Stepeð stronglice. c1000ælfric Gram. xxix. (Z.) 185 Gradior, ic stæppe. c1205Lay. 18420 Ac we scullen steppen [c 1275 stap] heom to, swa we stelen wolden. c1220Bestiary 10 in O.E. Misc., Alle hise fet steppes After him he filleð, Draȝ eð dust wið his stert ðer he steppeð. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. v. 352 He myȝte neither steppe [C text stappe] ne stonde er he his staffe hadde. c1386Chaucer Reeve's T. 154 Stepe on thy feet, com out, man, al atanes! 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. xcvi. (1495) 843 Apes maye goo and steppe on two fete, for they haue soolys in theyr fete as a man hath. 1399Langl. Rich. Redeles iii. 54 As sone as þey styffe and þat þey steppe kunne. 1570Levins Manip. 70/7 To steppe, gradi, gressus ponere. 1727H. Bland Milit. Discipl. 45 Those who Faced step with their left Feet towards the Rear. 1802C. James Milit. Dict., To Step, to move forward or backward, by a single change of the place of the foot... To step short..is to diminish or slacken your pace. 1821Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 8 Soft would he step lest they his tread should hear. 1829Lytton Disowned xxx, And now tell me all about your horse, does he step well? 1859F. A. Griffiths Artill. Man. (1862) 6 In slow or quick time the length of a pace is 30 inches,..in ‘stepping short’ 10.
b. with cognate obj. (a step, stride, etc.).
a1023Wulfstan Hom. lviii. (1883) 302/27 ælc þæra stæpa and fotlæsta, þe we to cyricean weard..ᵹestæppað. c1290S. Eng. Leg. 6/182 Euerech stape þat we stepen for-barnde onder ore fet. 1802G. Colman Br. Grins, Elder Bro. (1819) 125 He couldn't help, at every step he stepp'd, Grunting, and grumbling. 1821Scott Kenilw. iii, Nay, without expecting either pleasure or profit, or both, I had not stepped a stride within this manor. 1893Kipling Many Invent. 209, I rose and stepped three paces into the rukh.
c. To move with measured paces in a dance. Also quasi-trans., to go through the steps of, perform (a dance).
1698E. Ward Lond. Spy ii. (1706) 46 A Vintners Daughter, bred at the Dancing School,..steps a Minuet finely. 1864Tennyson Aylmer's F. 207 A stiff brocade in which..she, Once with this kinsman..Stept thro' the stately minuet of those days. 1878B. Taylor Deukalion iii. i. 95 Step to the music of the song I gave, My Poet, homeward! 1893Chamb. Jrnl. 19 Aug. 518/1 He stepped a minuet gravely and gracefully.
d. Phrase. as good (etc.) a man as ever stepped (in shoe-leather).
1818[see shoe-leather]. 1834Westm. Rev. XX. 495 Major Fancourt, as fine a young aristocrat as steps.
2. a. To move to a new position by extending the foot to a higher or lower level or across an intervening object or space (e.g. in entering or leaving a carriage or boat, ascending or descending stairs); with adv. or prep., as across, in, into, off, out of, on or upon, over, up (see also branches III and IV).
to step short, to make an insufficiently long stride, so that the foot fails to reach the intended position.
897ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xiii. 77 Ðylæs he ofer ðone ðerscold his endebyrdnesse stæppe. c1205Lay. 32035 He..somnede alle þa scipen..and þohte mid strengðe steppen to londe. a1320Sir Tristr. 2865 Her hors apolk stap in. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxxiii. (George) 259 He one horse gat stepande. 1706S. Centlivre Love at Venture i. i. 3 A Lady designing to Land at White-Hall Stairs, stepping short from the Boat, fell into the Water. 1801J. Thomson Poems Scot. Dial. 149 They'll get for crossin' o' a street, Or stappin' up a stair, Five gude red guineas at a heat. 1823Syd. Smith Wks. (1859) II. 21/2 A boat from shore reached the ship, and from it stepped a clerk of the Bank of England. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xi. 70 It was necessary to step from a projecting end of ice to a mass of soft snow. Ibid. xvii. 119 Retaining my boots [I] stepped upon the floating ice. 1886C. E. Pascoe Lond. To-day xxxiv. (ed. 3) 302 He might..get to the Royal Exchange without once stepping off the pavement. 1890Bridges Shorter Poems iii. vii, And in our boat we stepped and took the stream.
fig.1715Pope Iliad I. Pref. D 3 b, Let them think..that they are stepping almost three thousand Years backward into the remotest Antiquity.
b. to step astray, step awry, † step beside: to move from the straight or proper path (lit. and fig.). See also step aside in IV.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 6897 Ȝif heo quakieþ Oþer stepþ biside. 1592Arden of Feversham i. 373, I cannot speak or cast aside my eye, But he Imagines I haue stept awry. 1598T. Bastard Chrestol. v. xxxiii. 124 He steps awrie, and fals in to Aiax. 1666Dryden Ann. Mirab. cclxv, If my heedless Youth has stept astray.
c. Of an electromechanical device: to move a small, fixed distance in response to an input pulse.
1957Goode & Machol System Engin. iv. 48 The switch steps up through the various banks, taking 0·1 sec to arrive at the first and 0·1 sec to go to each succeeding one. 1958[see stepping ppl. a.]. 1964IEEE Trans. Automatic Control IX. 98/1 The idea of mechanically stepping in angle goes as far back as the clock escapement. 1974B. C. Kuo Theory & Applications of Step Motors i. 4 Many solenoid type motors can step only in one direction. 1978[see stepper 4].
3. a. In a more general sense: To go or proceed on foot. Now chiefly, to go a ‘step’ or short distance for a particular purpose: often in polite formulas of request or direction to another person. The direction, etc. is indicated by an adv. or prepositional phr.: for further illustration of these see branches III and IV.
c900tr. Bæda's Hist. iii. xiv. (1890) 196 Se cyning..stop ofostlice toforan [þam] biscope & feoll to his fotum. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 6293 Is armes he gan to caste & wiþ gret ernest step ner & asailede edmond vaste. c1300K. Horn 1392 (Laud MS.) Þe knyt to hem gan steppe. a1400Octouian 1435 Clement ner þe stede stapte. c1400Beryn 192 And sith to the dynerward they gan for to stappe. 1581Marbeck Bk. Notes 287 S. Luke had before declared that the Apostles did not step from Hierusalem. 1594Kyd Cornelia v. 324, I stept to him To haue embrac'd him. 1704Cibber Careless Husb. v. 59 Step with this to my Lady Graveairs. [Seals the Letter and gives it to the Servant.] 1705[E. Ward] Hud. Rediv. iv. 12 Who should step by, but Doctor Trotter. 1709Steele etc. Tatler No. 88 ⁋12 The Gentlewoman of the next House begged me to step thither. 1722Bp. Atterbury Let. to Pope 6 Apr., I may step to town to-morrow, to see how the work goes forward. 1794E. Inchbald Wedd. Day i. ii. 7 Your guardian is just stept home, to bring his wife to dine with us. 1835F. Lieber Stranger in Amer. I. 262 Passengers who have not paid their passage, please to step to the captain's office! 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. v. v, Besenval, before retiring for the night, has stept over to old M. de Sombreuil, of the Hôtel des Invalides hard by. 1847Tennyson Princess vi. (Song), Stole a maiden from her place, Lightly to the warrior stept. 1857W. Collins Dead Secret iii. iv, Will you step this way, and see her at once?
fig.1882Mrs. Oliphant Lit. Hist. Eng. I. 3 All is not absolute good or advantage to the human race; but yet the race is stepping onward.
b. with advb. accusative.
1885–94Bridges Eros & Psyche Oct. i, [She] chose to step the most deserted ways. 1892Meredith Sage Enamoured Poet. Wks. (1912) 382 She stepped her way benevolently grave.
c. to step and (do something). Now rare.
1704Cibber Careless Husb. iv. 46 What say you Ladies, shall we step and see what's done at the Basset-Table? 1764Foote Patron iii. Wks. 1799 I. 353 My good girl, will you step, and take care that when any body comes the servants may not be out of the way. 1802E. Parsons Myst. Visit IV. 3, I shall step and visit my patient. 1853Dickens Bleak Ho. xlv, Would you step and speak to Mr. Jarndyce?
†d. fig. To advance, proceed (in an action, argument, etc.). Obs.
1599Hayward 1st Pt. Life Hen. IV, 65 In priuate attempts a man may step and stope when he please. 1611G. H. tr. Anti-Coton 7 In the Chapter following, hee steps yet one degree farther. 1616R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 177 Yet are they..maintainers of their Honours and Families; wherein they step so far as if true gentrie were incorporat with them. 1620E. Blount Horæ Subs. 107 Liberality is a Vertue, and so is Parsimony within their seueral bounds, but the error is, when the one steps, or the other declines too neere the contrary. 1644Milton Divorce ii. xxi. 75 Thus farre by others is already well stept, to inform us that divorce is not a matter of Law but of Charity.
e. step-and-repeat adj. phr. In photographic printing, etc., involving or pertaining to a procedure in which performance of an operation and progressive movement of something involved in it occur alternately. Also absol.
1933N. Montague in W. Atkins Art & Pract. Printing III. xii. 91 The second method consists of exposing a negative on to a coated plate, moving it a definite distance, exposing again and repeating the process... Thus by means of this ‘step and repeat’ method..one negative may be used for printing a large number of copies. 1954J. Southward Mod. Printing (ed. 7) II. xxxv. 388 The key forme is now made up..for step and repeat. 1967E. Chambers Photolitho-Offset vi. 65 Where multiple repeats are required with great precision step-and-repeat machines are necessary. These are most versatile, and can be used for multi-negative work for postage stamps, labels, cheque backgrounds and the like. 1977J. Hedgecoe Photographer's Handbk. 256 (heading) Step-and-repeat images.
†4. In past pple.a. (well, far, etc.) stepped in age, in or into years: advanced in years, elderly.
c1386Chaucer Nun's Pr. T. 1 A poure wydwe, somdel stape [v.r. stope] in Age. Ibid., Merch. T. 270 And trewely it is an heigh corage Of any man that stapen [v.r. stopen] is in age To take a yong wyf. 1513Douglas æneis vi. v. 23 Allthocht he eildit was, or step in age. c1530Crt. of Love 281 This old, Thus fer y-stope in yeres. 1562Legh Armorie 69 Certaine knyghtes..beynge sore brused, lamed, and well steppte into yeares. 1593Nashe Four Lett. Conf. Wks. (Grosart) II. 253 Shores wife is yong, though you be stept in yeares. 1603Holland Plutarch's Mor. 493 Hellanicus, a man very farre stept in age. 1629Hobbes Thucyd. i. 4 Such of the Rich as were any thing stepped into yeeres. 1629Maxwell tr. Herodian (1635) 112 He was now well stept in yeares.
†b. far stepped: far advanced in (an action, attainment, etc.). Obs.
1594Carew Huarte's Exam. Wits x. (1596) 145 Not so far stept in perfection as the former. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. i. ii. 83 Since we are stept thus farre in, I will continue that I broach'd in iest. 1605― Macb. iii. iv. 137, I am in blood Stept in so farre.
5. colloq. To go away, make off. Cf. 3 c. Also to step it.
c1400Beryn 2433 Beryn gan to stappe, he sparid for no cost. 1851–61Mayhew Lond. Labour III. 198/1 After I had been with him about three months more I ‘stept it’ again. 1859Hotten's Slang Dict. 102 Step it, to run away or make off. 1902Munsey's Mag. XXIV. 851/2 Well, I must be stepping... It's getting late.
6. Of a horse: To go at a good pace. Also ocularly of persons. Cf. step out, 27 c.
1856[H. H. Dixon] Post & Paddock x. 176 The gentler sex seem to step along quite as briskly as their companions. 1857Hughes Tom Brown i. iv, How that ere cob did step! 1891S. C. Scrivener Our Fields & Cities xii. 95 She could ‘step’ as well as dress herself, and we were very soon on the Hertford road.
7. Naut. and Mech. Of a mast or other upright: To be fixed in its step. Of other parts: To be fixed or jointed in or into (a groove, etc.); to rest securely on or against (a support).
1791Smeaton Edystone L. §81 The lower end of the shores stepping against some hole or prominence of the rock. 1797Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVII. 395/2 The quarter⁓piece.., the heel of which must step on the after end of the middle stool. Ibid. 403/1 The partners on the lower deck, wherein the capstan steps. c1850Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 119 Foot-space rail, the rail..in which the balusters step. 1869E. J. Reed Shipbuild. iv. 61 The outer keel-plate..steps up into a rabbet in the side.
8. colloq. To clean doorsteps.
1884All Yr. Round 18 Oct. 29/2 A housewife..who will habitually do her own stepping, sublimely regardless of what Mrs. Grundy may say. Ibid. 31/1 Or again..they ‘step’ for houses that are practically in a state of siege.
II. Transitive (causal, or by omission of prep.).
9. To move (the foot) forward or through a specified step. Chiefly with advs., as down, in, across. Phr. to step foot in (a place). Now only U.S.
1540Palsgr. Acolastus v. v. A a iv b, Steppe not one foote forth of this place. a1547Surrey Compl. Abs. Lover 2 in Tottel's Misc. (Arb.) 19 Good Ladies,..Step in your foote, come take a place, and moorne with me a while. 1705H. Blackwell Engl. Fencing-Master 51 Engage him in Carte, disingage in Tierce, stepping your Right-Foot a-cross at the same Time. 1849Cupples Green Hand xiii. (1856) 130 Stepping one of his long trowser-legs down from over the quarterdeck awning. 1864R. B. Kimball Was he Successful? ii. i. 182 When Hiram stepped foot in the metropolis. 1880S. G. W. Benjamin Troy i. iv. 26 (Funk) Calchas announced that the first man who stepped foot on the enemy's soil was doomed at once to die.
10. To measure (a distance) by stepping over it. Also with off, out.
1832S. Warren Diary Physic. II. iii. 166 The work of loading being completed, and the distance—six paces—duly stepped out. 1842S. Lover Handy Andy iii, I, that have stepped more ground and arranged more affairs [sc. duels] than any man in the country! 1856C. M. Yonge Daisy Chain ii. xi. 456 ‘Hardly space enough I should say,’ replied Dr. Spencer, stepping it out. 1859Jephson Brittany xii. 210, I endeavoured to calculate its size by stepping it, and found that the capping-stone measured twelve of my strides.
1863W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting ix. 439 To give myself a good idea in rifle-shooting at game, I have been for years constantly judging and stepping off distances.
11. Naut. and Mech. To fix (a mast or other upright) in or into its step; to fit (a piece) into (a groove, etc.); to fix securely on or against (a support).
1711W. Sutherland Shipbuild. Assist. F 7 The most convenient Place for stepping every Mast. 1741Woodroofe in Hanway's Trav. (1762) I. ii. xvii. 75 We stept our masts and bowsprit. 1815Falconer's Dict. Marine (ed. Burney), To Step a Boat's Mast, is to erect and secure it in readiness for setting sail. 1856Kane Arct. Expl. II. xvi. 171 It [the mast] was stepped into an oaken thwart. 1874Thearle Naval Archit. 196 It was customary to dispose the knight head, stem piece, and hawse timbers in a fore and aft plane, stepping their heels against the foremost canted frame that heeled against the deadwood. 1879Jefferies Wild Life in S. Co. 195 These sheds are..supported..by a row of wooden pillars stepped on stones to keep them from rotting. 1892Daily News 24 Oct. 2/6 The new flagstaff..at Windsor Castle was successfully stepped..on Saturday afternoon.
12. Mech. To cut steps in (a key); to arrange (the teeth of a toothed wheel or rack) stepwise.
1856G. Price Depositories, Locks & Keys 798 Workmen, who have been stepping keys as they thought quite different from each other, have found that the keys passed each others' locks. 1869Rankine Machine & Hand-tools Pl. M 2, To prevent jarring the teeth of the driving wheels..are stepped. 1895Funk's Stand. Dict., Step,.. to cut steps in or adjust tools for cutting steps in (keys or the like).
13. To cause to move or progress intermittently; to cause to assume successively larger or smaller values.
1960McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. XIII. 356/1 Magnets are provided to step the shaft by means of a pawl mechanism. 1971Scil Amer. June 85/1 If a series of adjacent loops is energized in sequence, a bubble will be stepped along from one loop to the next. 1977New Scientist 7 Apr. 9/2 You can ‘step’ the laser from one frequency to another in this way, but cannot tune it continuously. 1977Offshore Engineer Aug. 7/1 In the case of the larger Bass Strait fields..price rises are likely to be stepped.
III. Intransitive uses with prepositions.
14. step between (or betwixt) — To come between (two persons, a person and thing, etc.) by way of severance, interruption or interception.
1601Shakes. All's Well v. iii. 319 Deadly diuorce step betweene me and you. 16051st Pt. Jeronimo iii. ii. 157 O then stept heauen and I Betweene the stroke. 1615Heywood Four Prentices D 4, Stage-dir., Bell. Stay Gentlemen. Shee steps betweene them. 1742Gray Propertius ii. 12 When..Age step 'twixt love and me, and intercept the joy. 1839T. Mitchell Frogs of Aristoph. 201 note, We will no longer step between the reader and his mirth.
15. step into —.
a. See sense 3 and into prep.
c1000ælfric Hom. I. 60 Mid þam ðe se apostol Iohannes stop into ðære byriᵹ Ephesum. c1400Beryn 309 He stappid in-to the tapstry wondir pryuely. 1598Shakes. Merry W. iv. ii. 11 Step into th' chamber, Sir Iohn. a1700Evelyn Diary 21 Apr. 1657, I stept into Bedlame, where I saw several poore miserable creatures in chaines. 1732Swift etc. Poisoning Curll Misc. III. 26 He desir'd his Wife to step into the Shop for a Common-Prayer-Book. 1765Bickerstaff Maid of Mill iii. ii. 57 But, stay and take a letter, which I am stepping into my study to write. 1832S. Warren Diary Physic. II. ii. 95 Before leaving the house, I stepped into the parlour, to speak a few words to Miss E―.
b. To walk into (a place on a higher or lower level, e.g. a vehicle) by taking one or more steps up or down.
c1380Sir Ferumb. 5793 If þou wilt ben a crysteman, Mahoun þou most for-sake,..And suþþe stape in-to þis water clere. 1825T. Hook Sayings Ser. ii. Passion & Princ. xii. 294 The ladies having set all their finery in order,..the party stepped into the coach. 1862Borrow Wild Wales II. x. 105 Your honour can..trifle away the minutes over your wine..till seven, when your honour can step into a first-class for Bangor.
c. To obtain possession of (an estate, a place or office) at a single step; to succeed at once to (the place of another person or thing).
1607Shakes. Timon ii. ii. 232 By whose death hee's stepp'd Into a great estate. 1609Holland Amm. Marcell. xxx. viii. 389 Leo.., in case the other, now aloft, should once fall downe from the rocke, was readie to step into his Præfect⁓ship. 1671Trenchfield Cap Gray Hairs (1688) 18 The Discourse of [Religious] Ceremonies hath brought things to this pass..that the Circumstances hath stept into the room of the Substance. 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. xx, A gentleman in London who had just stepped into taste and a large fortune. 1802C. James Milit. Dict. s.v., The guards..have the exclusive privilege of going over this intermediate rank, and stepping into a lieutenant-colonelcy at once. 1871Freeman Norm. Conq. IV. xvii. 65 William in short had stepped into the place of those whom he had himself overcome. 1886C. E. Pascoe London To-day xxiii. (ed. 3) 218 Until Button's Coffee-house stepped into the place of ‘Will's’.
†d. To enter suddenly and incautiously into (a course of action, etc.). Obs.
1607Shakes. Timon iii. v. 12 A Friend of mine, who in hot blood Hath stept into the Law, which is past depth To those that (without heede) do plundge intoo't. 1648Fanshawe Il Pastor Fido, etc. 304 In pursuance of this fury, about ten years after, Caius Gracchus stept into action (as the Irish call it) to play the second part of his Brother. 1656in Burton's Diary (1828) I. 31, I know no reason for this speed; for we may offend as well in proceeding and sudden stepping into judgments.
16. step on or upon —.
a. To put the foot down upon; to walk on or over; to tread on (something that lies in the way); fig. to come suddenly upon (a person or thing). Also, to set one's foot on (a position) from a higher or lower level or by striding across an intervening space.
a1000Cædmon's Gen. 1136 Siððan Adam stop on grene græs. a1000Riddles xxvii. 10 Fuᵹles wyn..stop eft on mec. c1205Lay. 23861 He þat scip stronge scaf from þan londe and stop uppen þat æit-lond. a1290S. Eustace 113 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 213 Crist.. þat on erþe rod and stop. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 6950 Heo stap vpe þis furi yre euerich stape al clene. c1394P. Pl. Crede 649 For stappyng on a too of a styncande frere. 1417E.E. Wills 27/1 That my body be Beryed in the Chirchhey..as men goth ouer into þe church at þe South Syde, ryȝte as they mowe stappe on me. 1530Palsgr. 734/2, I steppe upon a thyng, je saulx par dessus. Ibid. 735/1, I stepped upon hym or I was ware. 1601Shakes. Twel. N. iii. iv. 306 He payes you as surely, as your feete hits the ground they step on. 1638Junius Paint. Ancients 61 The Poët stepping with Phaëton upon the waggon hath noted..every particular. 1901Abp. Temple in Sandford Mem. (1906) II. 702 The moment we begin to assign motives we are stepping on unsafe ground.
b. to step on the gas: see gas n.2 Also, to step on it († her). colloq. (orig. U.S.).
1923R. Crothers Mary the Third ii. i. 53 This is life! Go on, Lynn! Step on her! (Lynn bends lower over the wheel.) 1926Maines & Grant Wise-Crack Dict. 13/1 Step on it, hurry. 1930F. L. Packard Jimmie Dale & Blue Envelope Murder xxii. 316 Then for heaven's sake step on it, old man! 1939G. Greene Confidential Agent iv. ii. 283 ‘Step on it, Joe.’ They ricocheted down the rough path. 1957‘N. Shute’ On Beach i. 27 Get up into it, and I'll step on it and show you how she goes. 1974K. Clark Another Part of Wood vi. 234 His aim was to complain to M. Jean Zay that he was not getting enough drink. ‘Tell him to step on it’ he repeated. 1981C. Leopold Night Fishers of Antibes lxxv. 201 All he had to do was to put the Citroën into second and step on it.
17. step out of —. See simple senses and out of prep.
1489Caxton Faytes of A. i. xxiii. E iv, Dyuerse rowes..full smothly renged and not steppyng out of place. 1588Shakes. Tit. A. i. 1. 391 (Qo.) To step out of these dririe dumps. 1691Hartcliffe Virtues 45 When we step out of the way of Virtue. 1704Norris Ideal World ii. v. 279 No sooner do we step out of selves, but we launch out into a vast sea of intelligible objects, where we see no shore. 1785Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xxviii. (1794) 438 But here we are stepping out of our province.
18. step over —. To walk or stride across (an intervening space, cavity or obstacle); fig. to overstep, transgress; to ‘skip’, miss or neglect in passing; also Mil. to be promoted to a position above (another who is considered to have a prior claim).
1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 527 (MS. β) Ȝif heo stapeth harmles over alle these stappes. c1440Promp. Parv. 474/2 Steppyn ovyr a thynge, clunico. 15..Droichis Part of Play 86 in Dunbar's Poems 317 Or he of aige was ȝeiris thre, He wald step over the occiane sie. 1530Palsgr. 735/1, I wil steppe over this brooke, I holde the a peny. 1546J. Heywood Prov. i. xi. (1867) 34 Where thou wilt not step ouer a straw, I thynke. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. iv. ii. 27 Not stepping ore the bounds of modestie. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 192 You must step over a great many people,..lying and tumbling confusedly in the Church. 1726Swift Gulliver i. iv, I stept over the great western gate. 1746Wesley Princ. Methodist 39 Stop, Sir. You are stepping over one or two Points, which I have not done with. 1802C. James Milit. Dict., To step over, to rise above another... As, young men of interest and connection frequently step over old soldiers. 1872Earl of Pembroke & G. H. Kingsley S. Sea Bubbles i. 23 We strolled about the gardens all the evening, stepping over or picking our way between the numerous babies that were scattered about the ground. 1885E. Gosse Shakesp. to Pope 146 An intellectual and fanciful..element, which really stepped over the Marinists, and linked the Elizabethans with the classical school.
19. step to —. † To address oneself vigorously to (a task, encounter, etc.). Obs.
1530Palsgr. 734/2 Step to it, man, hardyment a cela. Steppe to it agayne and take better holde. 1540― Acolastus iv. iv. Vj, Let vs goo to it, or steppe to it (lyke men). Ibid. v. v. A a iij b, What yf I steppe to it, and diuise some humble prayer to my father.
IV. With adverbs.
20. step aside. intr.
a. To go a little distance away from one's place or from the path one is following; to withdraw or retire for a short distance; to take one or more steps to one's right or left. Also fig.
1530Palsgr. 734/2, I steppe a syde out of the way, je me desmarche. Let them lay to my charge what they lyste, I wyll never steppe a syde for it. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 316 b, He steppeth a side into the countrey by. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. i. 162 See where he comes, so please you step aside. 1600Fairfax Tasso xi. lxxx, He stept aside the furious blow to shunne. 1770Langhorne Plutarch, Timoleon II. 215 Upon which Timoleon stepped aside, and stood weeping. 1859Musketry Instr. 35 He will leave his rifle on the rest and step aside, in order that the instructor may take his place.
†b. To abscond. Obs.
1620in Crt. & Times Jas. I (1848) II. 210 Sir John Samms is stept aside and gone for Bohemia,..being..ready to sink under the burthen of his debts. 1689Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) I. 595 The cook was sent to Newgate, but the lord Griffin himself, hearing of it, is stept aside. a1715Burnet Own Time (1823) II. 153 They did not know whether he might not have stepped aside for debt.
†c. To make a digression in discourse. Obs.
1653Gataker Vind. Annot. Jer. 125 Herodote made his History somewhat the more delightful, by stepping aside to tel a tale or two now and then. 1799J. Robertson Agric. Perth 190, I request the indulgence of the reader..while I step aside to give a few directions to the inhabitants of the Highland districts.
d. To deviate from the right path, err, go astray.
1786Burns Addr. to Unco Guid vii, To step aside is human.
21. step back. (a) To go back a little distance, to retire or withdraw a short distance to the rear. (b) To go one or more paces backwards without turning the body round. Also fig.
1538Elyot Dict., Resulto, to..to leape or steppe backe. 1544Betham Precepts War i. cxliii. G viij b. Whome we muste imbolden..that gladly they wyll marche forwarde, and not to steppe backe for anye ieopardyes. 1605Chapman All Fooles ii. i. E 1 b, I stept me backe, and drawing my olde friend heere, Made to the midst of them. 1667Milton P.L. iv. 820 Back stept those two fair Angels half amaz'd. 1759Johnson Rasselas xxxi, The favorite of the Princess, looking into the cavity, stepped back and trembled. 1802C. James Milit. Dict., Step Back, March,..a word of command which is given when one or more men are ordered to take the back step according to regulation. 1857Mrs. Gatty Parab. Nat. Ser. ii. 65 He stepped back again to the path. 1859F. A. Griffiths Artil. Man. (1862) 6 In stepping back the pace is 30 inches.
22. step down.
a. To go from a higher level to a lower, esp. by treading on a step or stairway. Also, to go a short distance to a place which is, or is regarded as, lower. Also fig., to withdraw or retire from office. orig. U.S.
a1400St. Alexius 503 (Trin.) Of here bedde hy sprong..And hardeliche a-doun stap, Þe folk alle among. 1526Tindale John v. 7 Another stoppeth [? read steppeth] doune before me. 1590Tarlton's News Purgatory 33 So he stept downe out of the pulpit. 1818Scott Br. Lamm. xxi, Pray, step down to the cellar, and fetch us up a bottle of the Burgundy. 1825T. Hook Sayings Ser. ii. Passion & Princ. xi. III. 253, I wish, Macaddle, that to-morrow morning early, you would step down to the Tower, and see the Colonel. 1842Tennyson Beggar Maid 5 In robe and crown the king stept down. 1890Stock Grower & Farmer 3 May 3/2 If the bureau cannot do this, let the members of it, the lunkheads, step down and resign. 1945Sun (Baltimore) 22 Sept. 5-0/1 (heading) Henry Ford steps down: Grandson becomes president of motor company. 1983Times 30 Aug. 1/2 Mr Menachim Begin has pledged to make a final announcement..abou..his intention to step down as Israel's sixth prime minister.
†b. To plant the foot firmly on the ground at each step. Obs.
1747Gentl. Mag. XVII. 77 Such exercise is not much less salutiferous than riding, if the walker steps down firmly, so as to shake the intestines.
c. trans. in Electr. To reduce (the voltage of a supply); to reduce the voltage of (a supply).
1903Electr. World & Engin. 8 Aug. 230 (Cent. Suppl.) The..transformers..stept the pressure down to 2,000 volts. 1938[see scanning coil s.v. scanning vbl. n. 4]. 1978Gramophone Jan. 1340/3 It is also very safe, since it uses only a 12-volt supply, stepped down by a small isolating mains transformer.
23. step forth. To advance a short distance from one's place or position; to come out to the front or into the midst, present oneself before the public; to advance with some immediate purpose in view. Also fig. of things.
c1000Ags. Gosp. John xi. 44 & sona stop forð se þe dead wæs. c1205Lay. 25819 Forð he gon steppen. a1300Cursor M. 10763 Son ilkan wit þair wand forth stepe. 1518Sel. Cases Star Chamber (Selden Soc.) II. 140 Whan they [jurymen] wer callyd and ther namys redd, steppyd forth one Robert Edward and seyd [etc.] 1526Tindale Acts v. 20 Goo, steppe forthe, and speake in the temple to the people. 1588Shakes. L.L.L. iv. iii. 151 Now step I forth to whip hypocrisie. 1605Chapman All Fooles ii. i. E 1 b, Steps me forth Their valiant fore-man, with the word, I rest you. 1667Milton P.L. vi. 128 From his armed Peers Forth stepping opposite, half way he met His daring foe. 1674N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 188 Why might he not 10000 ages before the world was, give it its bidding to step forth? 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. iii. ix, Not for a century and half had Rascality ventured to step forth in this fashion. 1913D. Bray Life-Hist. Brahui iv. 62 Then those that can shoot a good shot step forth for a match.
24. step forward = step forth.
1793[Johnson] Consid. Coal in Scot. 56 The gentlemen who, in this exigency, stepped forward to second the efforts of the Magistrates. 1799Ht. Lee Canterb. T., Frenchm. T. (ed. 2) I. 300 His comrade, stepping forward, remonstrated with some warmth. 1802C. James Milit. Dict., To step forth or forward, to take an active part in any thing. Thus, when the circle was formed, the grenadiers stepped forward to beg off their comrade. 1845Gladstone Corr. Ch. & Relig. (1910) I. 349 A rear-rank man steps forward when his front-rank man falls in battle. 1855Poultry Chron. III. 162 Any one who could step forward in this time of no reports with a few facts, would be a public benefactor.
†b. To present oneself as the champion of a woman's reputation (with reference to duelling).
1796–7Jane Austen Pride & Prej. xlvii, Could he expect that her friends would not step forward? Ibid., Lydia has no brothers to step forward.
c. Wrestling. = step in, 25 c.
1898Encycl. Sport II. 547/2 (Wrestling) The hype. After securing a tight grip step forward with the left leg [etc.].
25. step in.
a. To come or go indoors; to enter a house or apartment casually or for a short visit. Also, to enter a boat, vehicle, etc.
c1000ælfric Judg. iv. 21 Seo wifman..stop inn diᵹollice. 1534Tindale John v. 4 Whosoever then fyrst after the steringe of the water, stepped in, was made whoale. 1622Fletcher Span. Cur. iv. vi, 'Pray ye let's step in, and see a friend of mine. a1700Evelyn Diary 19 Aug. 1641, As we returned, we stepped in to see the Spin-house. 1785E. Inchbald I'll tell you what i. i. (1787) 11 Do step in and take your chocolate with her. 1832H. Martineau Ella of Gar. xi. 138 The little boat pushed off..the three boatmen..having waved their bonnets and cheered before they stept in, in honour of the spectators. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. v. viii, Such Deputation is on the point of setting out,—when lo, his Majesty himself, attended only by his two Brothers, steps in. 1898Gibbs Cotswold Village iii. 50 If he could get you to ‘step in,’ he would offer you gooseberry, ginger, cowslip, and currant wine.
b. To come forward and join in what is going on; to come to close quarters, enter the fray; to intervene in an affair, a dispute, etc. lit. and fig.
1474Caxton Chesse iii. iii. (1883) 101 His frende..forth⁓wyth stept in and sayde that he hymself was culpable of the deth of this man. 15..Christ's Kirk i. vi, Then Steven cam steppand in with stendis. 1546J. Heywood Prov. i. iii. (1867) 7 While I at length debate and beate the bushe, There shall steppe in other men, and catch the burdes. 1604Shakes. Oth. ii. iii. 229 This Gentleman Steppes in to Cassio, and entreats his pause. 1657N. Billingsley Brachy-Martyrol. ii. i. 150 While they for the crown contended, In step'd the Romans, so the quarrel ended. 1702Addison Dial. Medals i. (1726) 30 It is here therefore..that the old Poets step in to the assistance of the Medallist. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) IV. 230 Just when, by long labour, the weasel..had removed the board, the monkey stept in, and..fastened it again in its place. 1867Freeman Norm. Conq. I. vi. 497 Certain Bishops and other chief men stepped in to preserve peace. 1877Ibid. (ed. 3) II. ix. 407 The three able statesmen who are represented as stepping in [edd. 1, 2 intervening] between him and his dangerous vassal.
c. In Wrestling, to bring one's leg round the opponent's. In Cricket, of a batsman: To advance a step to meet a ball.
1714T. Parkyns Inn-Play (ed. 2) 55 Step in with your left Leg the inside of his Right. Ibid. 56 At the same time he steps in with his other Leg to turn you. 1837New Sporting Mag. XI. 197 Stepping in to meet the ball... In stepping in the hitter must get well over the ball. 1862Pycroft Cricket Tutor 35 As to forward play, with an over-pitched ball every first-rate player knows how to step in.
26. step off.
a. intr. To take one or more steps down and away from a higher level.
1833T. Hook Parson's Dau. ii. i, He [a would-be visitor at a house] stepped off, and turning down Grosvenor Street [etc.].
b. Mil. To begin to march at a prescribed pace.
1802C. James Milit. Dict., To step off,..to take a prescribed pace from a halted position, in ordinary or quick time, in conformity to some given word of command or signal... In stepping off to music,..the word of command is the signal to lift up the left foot.
c. trans. To mark off by successive equal movements of a leg of the compasses. Cf. 27 d.
1895E. Rowe Chip-carving 21 Divide the circle into three equal sectors, by stepping off the radius six times upon the circumference.
d. intr. To die. Cf. step out, sense 27 e below. slang. rare.
1926E. Wallace Man from Morocco iii. 21 There will only be the the bit of money I have when I—er—step off.
27. step out.
a. intr. (Cf. sense 3.) To go or come out from a place, usually for a short distance or for a short time; esp. to leave the house, go out of doors. Also, to leave a boat or vehicle. Also, to move one or more paces away from one's position.
a1533Ld. Berners Huon cxxxiii. 494 He stepte out aparte to behold the batayle. 1576Gascoigne Kenelw. Castle Wks. 1910 II. 91 Sibilla being placed in an arbor..did step out and pronounced as foloweth. c1730Swift Direct. Serv., General Rules, When your master..wants a servant who happens to be abroad, your answer must be, that he had but just that minute stept out. 1753Richardson Grandison (1754) II. 4 Sir Charles, stepping out, brought in with him Miss Jervois. 1837Dickens Pickw. xiv, ‘Never mind’, said the one-eyed man, calling after the girl as she left the room. ‘I'll step out by and by, Mary.’ 1857Hughes Tom Brown ii. viii, The first ball of the over Jack steps out and meets, swiping with all his force. 1880E. G. O'Reilly Sussex Stories I. 276 Mother's stepped out, and I'm alone up here.
fig.1602tr. Guarini's Pastor Fido iv. ii. K 4 b, At each of Siluioes actes My soule stept out, push't on with all her will.
b. Mil. To lengthen the pace in marching.
1802C. James Milit. Dict., To step out, to lengthen your pace. 1833Reg. Instr. Cavalry i. 17 On the word Step out, the recruit must be taught to lengthen his step to 33 inches.
c. To walk with a vigorous step or stride. Also transf. of a ship.
1806J. Davis Post-Captain xii. 74 The sailors were making a run of the tackle-falls, and Mr. Hurricane..was heard to exclaim,..‘Step out, men! step out! Walk away with him, cheerly!’ 1842Penny Cycl. XXIII. 214/1 The truly-bred Suffolk horses are active in their walk..They step out well. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair xxx, Jack or Donald marches away to glory..stepping out briskly to the tune of ‘The Girl I left behind me’. 1859Jephson Brittany ix. 140, I therefore stepped out hard, and at length..reached a town. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Step out, to move along simultaneously and cheerfullly with a tackle-fall, &c. 1884H. Collingwood Under Meteor Flag 250 It was..the weather in which the little ‘Vigilant’ stepped out to the greatest advantage.
d. trans. Cf. step off 26 c.
1895E. Rowe Chip-carving 68 Divide the circumference into six parts by stepping out the radius six times round the circumference.
e. To die; to disappear. U.S. slang. ? Obs.
1844Yale Lit. Mag. IX. 381 Of the other pieces..some will be found in the present number..and the remainder have ‘stept out’. 1851T. A. Burke Polly Peablossom's Wedding 177 Ay, dead!—stepped out!—d—d—dead as Tecumseh! 1903A. D. McFaul Ike Glidden xxx. 277 He is the cause of my ruin. Yes, that is why he stepped out when he did.
f. To appear in company or society; spec. to accompany or walk out (with a person of the opposite sex); to consort (with a lover). N. Amer. dial. and colloq.
1907‘Mark Twain’ in Harper's Mag. Dec. 44/2, I thought what a figure I should cut stepping out amongst the redeemed in such a rig. 1918Dialect Notes V. 28 To step [out], vb. i. To go out with a jane. Usually with an unvirtuous intention. General, but especially college communities. 1934T. E. Sullinger Children of Divorce 9 It affords the father an opportunity to find out how his former wife is spending his alimony, who she is ‘stepping out with’. 1936L. Lefko Public Relations 27 She must be cultured—none of those speak-easy belles you step out with will do. 1940Chatelaine June 59/3 Sally's stepping out again! 1955D. W. Maurer in Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxiv. 190 [Support] will continue as long as she does not have anything to do with men; as soon as she ‘steps out’ and the fact becomes known, her support stops. 1977Detroit Free Press 11 Dec. 11-b/1 Woodard believes Rae is stepping out with Frank.
g. To parachute out of a (disabled) aircraft. R.A.F. slang.
1942B. J. Ellan Spitfire p. x, If you are unlucky enough to get shot down yourself, you..step out. 1953R. Chisholm Cover of Darkness i. ii. 24 He climbed to ten thousand and he and his observer stepped out as we used to say.
h. to step out of line: see line n.2 28 b.
28. step together.
†a. Of two or more persons: To meet or engage in conflict. Obs.
b. Of a pair of horses: To be well matched in pace and action. Also fig. of persons, to be in sympathy.
c1205Lay. 28408 Heo to-gadere stopen and sturnliche fuhten. 1866A. Thomas Walter Goring I. i. 5 They stepped together well in fact, and so defied censure. 1880M. E. Braddon Just as I am xxi, ‘How well Morton and Fan step together!’ said Beville, speaking of the dancers as if they were horses.
29. step up.
a. intr. To go up from a lower position to a higher; to mount, ascend (also fig.); spec. to go up by treading on a step or stairway. Also, in later use, to go a short distance, or pay a short visit, to a place which is, or is regarded as, higher.
a1000Riddles xxii. 19 Hy stopan up on oþerne. a1225Leg. Kath. 713 & mid tet ilke step up, & steah to þe steorren. a1240Lofsong in O.E. Hom. I. 207 His up ariste do me stepen uwward in heie and holi þeawes. a1400–50Wars Alex. 1437 Sum stepis vp on sties to þe stane wallis. c1400Destr. Troy 351 To this souerayne Citie þat yet was olofte, Jason aioynid and his iust fferis, Steppit vp to a streite streght on his gate. 1758Jortin Erasmus I. 35 He often stepped up to Town.
b. To mount a pulpit, rostrum, or the like.
1535Coverdale Acts v. 20 Steppe vp and speake in the temple to the people. a1700Evelyn Diary 8 Nov. 1644, After him stepp'd up a child of 8 or 9 years old who pronounced an oration. Ibid. 4 Dec. 1653, Going this day to our Church I was surpriz'd to see a tradesman, a mechanic, step up.
c. To come forward for some purpose; to leave one's place and come close to (a person).
1660F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 6 He..suddenly stept up to him, and..laid him dead at his feete. 1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 88 One of our men stepped up to the fellow. 1764in R. S. Hawker's Footpr. Far Cornw. (1870) 62, I made up my mind to..step up and ask his name right out. 1840Thackeray Barber Cox Jan., ‘A mighty wet day, sir,’ says I to Mr. Hock, stepping up and making my bow.
†d. fig. To arise, come suddenly into prominence.
1577Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist., Socrates ii. xxviii. 279 At Antioche in Syria there stept vp an other hereticke. 1610Knolles Hist. Turks Induct. to Rdr., There stept vp among the Turks in Bythinia one Osman or Othoman.
e. Wrestling. To bring one's leg up (between the opponent's legs).
1714T. Parkyns Inn-Play (ed. 2) 51 Step up with your left Leg betwixt his Legs.
f. trans. To bank up in steps.
1901S. B. Miles in Geogr. Jrnl. (R.G.S.) XVIII. 480 The terraces being stepped up with revetments wherever the natural features of the ground had not availed, to maintain the earth in position.
g. Electr. To increase (the voltage of a supply) by means of a transformer; to increase the voltage of (a current).
1902S. Sheldon & H. Mason Altern.-Current Machines 154 The autotransformer is used to step-up the voltage..to 500 volts. 1909Electrician 2 July 463/1 By means of the three resonance relays..the telephone current was stepped up to 10- 2 amperes and audible working obtained. 1912Nature 21 Nov. 346/1 One method to obtain this is to step up by means of an E.H.T. transformer. 1956A. H. Compton Atomic Quest i. 14 Step up the voltages used in our experiments with nuclei, and we should expect to produce interesting nuclear reactions. 1980J. W. Hill Intermediate Physics xxi. 205 The transformer can step up or step down voltages.
h. fig. To raise to a higher level or standard, by a stage or stages. More widely, to advance gradually; to increase, intensify.
1920Glasgow Herald 8 July 7 They would suggest that this increase..should be ‘stepped up’ over a period of years. 1931Amer. Speech VII. verso rear cover (Advt.), Can you ‘step-up’ education to meet the new requirements of society? 1938Sun (Baltimore) 5 Sept. 8/8 Soon after they had cleared the Hanover street bridge they stepped up their stroke. 1941Punch 19 Feb. 173/2 People have..stepped their ideas up..about the telephone; I mean, nowadays very few of them actually brush their hair before answering. 1958Spectator 18 July 117/1 The output..could be quickly stepped up. 1967Listener 23 Mar. 390/2 An Aden nationalist leader says terrorist activity will be stepped up when U.N. mission arrives. 1978K. Hudson Jargon of Professions ii. 50 The war in Vietnam was being stepped up. 1982Times 25 Oct. 6/1 The Solidarity underground..stepped up its pressure this weekend on..the beleaguered Polish leader.
V.
30. The vb.-stem in combination with advbs. and preps. step-on a. U.S., that may be operated by pressure of the foot. See also step-down, -in, -out, -up.
1945Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch 9 Nov. 24 (Advt.), Step-on pail. 1978Detroit Free Press 5 Mar. a 20 (Advt.), Powerful cleaner has..Convenient step-on switch, easy⁓change bag holder.
▸ intr. N. Amer.to step (up) to the plate. a. Baseball. To enter the batter's box for a turn at bat.
1875Burlington (Iowa) Hawk-eye 2 Sept. 3/2 Dead silence as the first of the Actives stepped to the plate. 1925Washington Post 7 Sept. 12/3 All of Harris' regulars are potential hitters the minute they step up to the plate—just as much so as are their opponents. 2003B. Hartinger Geogr. Club ix. 143, I stepped up to the plate again, waited for the pitcher's windup, and then promptly got my second strike.
b. fig. To take action in response to an opportunity, crisis, or challenge; to take responsibility for something.
1919Washington Post 2 Nov. (Features section) 2/6 When William Harris, who produced the play, recently reached the conclusion that it was a failure, Mr. Shipman stepped up to the plate with a suggestion that he continue the run of the stage story ‘on his own’. 1961H. S. Brody Paradox & Promise 4 Instead of being shouted down as intellectual snobs, these professors now came into their innings and they stepped up to the plate and swung for the circuit. 1991Los Angeles Times (Electronic ed.) 24 May a1 It was just one more chance to dump in a minority community and the company thought the minority community was not going to step to the plate. 2004Boston Globe (Nexis) 6 May e4 Directors..need to step up to the plate in order for investors to feel comfortable that they are properly represented as shareholders.
▪ IV. step
var. stap Sc. and north., stave of a tub. |