noun
- Any maneuver made as part of progress toward a goal.
- usage: "the situation called for strong measures"; "the police took steps to reduce crime"
- The distance covered by a step.
- usage: "he stepped off ten paces from the old tree and began to dig"
- The act of changing location by raising the foot and setting it down.
- usage: "he walked with unsteady steps"
- synonyms: step
- Support consisting of a place to rest the foot while ascending or descending a stairway.
- usage: "he paused on the bottom step"
- Relative position in a graded series.
- usage: "always a step behind"; "subtle gradations in color"; "keep in step with the fashions"
- A short distance.
- usage: "it's only a step to the drugstore"
- synonyms: step, stone's throw
- The sound of a step of someone walking.
- usage: "he heard footsteps on the porch"
- A musical interval of two semitones.
- synonyms: tone, whole tone, step, whole step
- A mark of a foot or shoe on a surface.
- usage: "the police made casts of the footprints in the soft earth outside the window"
- A solid block joined to the beams in which the heel of a ship's mast or capstan is fixed.
- synonyms: step
- A sequence of foot movements that make up a particular dance.
- usage: "he taught them the waltz step"
- synonyms: dance step, step
- A flight of stairs or a flight of steps.
- synonyms: stairs
- The course along which a person has walked or is walking in.
- usage: "I followed in his steps"; "he retraced his steps"; "his steps turned toward home"
verb
- Shift or move by taking a step.
- usage: "step back"
- synonyms: step
- Put down or press the foot, place the foot.
- usage: "For fools rush in where angels fear to tread"; "step on the brake"
- Cause (a computer) to execute a single command.
- synonyms: step
- Treat badly.
- usage: "This boss abuses his workers"; "She is always stepping on others to get ahead"
- Furnish with steps.
- usage: "The architect wants to step the terrace"
- synonyms: step
- Move with one's feet in a specific manner.
- usage: "step lively"
- synonyms: step
- Walk a short distance to a specified place or in a specified manner.
- usage: "step over to the blackboard"
- synonyms: step
- Place (a ship's mast) in its step.
- synonyms: step
- Measure (distances) by pacing.
- usage: "step off ten yards"
- Move or proceed as if by steps into a new situation.
- usage: "She stepped into a life of luxury"; "he won't step into his father's footsteps"
- synonyms: step
WordNet 3.0 © 2006 by Princeton University
| APA | WordNet. (2010). steps. Retrieved September 20, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/steps/definitions/1227488 |
| Chicago | WordNet. 2010. "steps" http://smartdefine.org/steps/definitions/1227488 (accessed September 20, 2026). |
| Harvard | WordNet 2010, steps, Smart Define, viewed 20 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/steps/definitions/1227488>. |
| MLA | WordNet. "steps" 23 October 2010. Web. 20 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/steps/definitions/1227488> |