n. [ AS. staepe. See Step, v. i. ] 1. An advance or movement made by one removal of the foot; a pace. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A rest, or one of a set of rests, for the foot in ascending or descending, as a stair, or a round of a ladder. [ 1913 Webster ]

The breadth of every single step or stair should be never less than one foot. Sir H. Wotton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The space passed over by one movement of the foot in walking or running; as, one step is generally about three feet, but may be more or less. Used also figuratively of any kind of progress; as, he improved step by step, or by steps. [ 1913 Webster ]

To derive two or three general principles of motion from phenomena, and afterwards to tell us how the properties and actions of all corporeal things follow from those manifest principles, would be a very great step in philosophy. Sir I. Newton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A small space or distance; as, it is but a step. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A print of the foot; a footstep; a footprint; track. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Gait; manner of walking; as, the approach of a man is often known by his step. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. Proceeding; measure; action; an act. [ 1913 Webster ]

The reputation of a man depends on the first steps he makes in the world. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

Beware of desperate steps. The darkest day,
Live till to-morrow, will have passed away. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

I have lately taken steps . . . to relieve the old gentleman's distresses. G. W. Cable. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. pl. Walk; passage. [ 1913 Webster ]

Conduct my steps to find the fatal tree. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. pl. A portable framework of stairs, much used indoors in reaching to a high position. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. (Naut.) In general, a framing in wood or iron which is intended to receive an upright shaft; specif., a block of wood, or a solid platform upon the keelson, supporting the heel of the mast. [ 1913 Webster ]

11. (Mach.) (a) One of a series of offsets, or parts, resembling the steps of stairs, as one of the series of parts of a cone pulley on which the belt runs. (b) A bearing in which the lower extremity of a spindle or a vertical shaft revolves. [ 1913 Webster ]

12. (Mus.) The intervak between two contiguous degrees of the csale. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The word tone is often used as the name of this interval; but there is evident incongruity in using tone for indicating the interval between tones. As the word scale is derived from the Italian scala, a ladder, the intervals may well be called steps. [ 1913 Webster ]

13. (Kinematics) A change of position effected by a motion of translation. W. K. Clifford. [ 1913 Webster ]

14. (Fives) At Eton College, England, a shallow step dividing the court into an inner and an outer portion. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

Back step,
Half step, etc. See under Back, Half, etc. --
Step grate, a form of grate for holding fuel, in which the bars rise above one another in the manner of steps. --
To take steps, to take action; to move in a matter. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Stepped p. pr. & vb. n. Stepping. ] [ AS. staeppan; akin to OFries. steppa, D. stappen to step, stap a step, OHG. stepfen to step, G. stapfe a footstep, OHG. stapfo, G. stufe a step to step on; cf. Gr. &unr_; to shake about, handle roughly, stamp (?). Cf. Stamp, n. & a. ] 1. To move the foot in walking; to advance or recede by raising and moving one of the feet to another resting place, or by moving both feet in succession. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To walk; to go on foot; esp., to walk a little distance; as, to step to one of the neighbors. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To walk slowly, gravely, or resolutely. [ 1913 Webster ]

Home the swain retreats,
His flock before him stepping to the fold. Thomson. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Fig.: To move mentally; to go in imagination. [ 1913 Webster ]

They are stepping almost three thousand years back into the remotest antiquity. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

To step aside, to walk a little distance from the rest; to retire from company. --
To step forth, to move or come forth. --
To step in or
To step into. (a) To walk or advance into a place or state, or to advance suddenly in. [ 1913 Webster ] Whosoever then first, after the troubling of the water, stepped in, was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. John v. 4. [ 1913 Webster ] (b) To enter for a short time; as, I just stepped into the house. (c) To obtain possession without trouble; to enter upon easily or suddenly; as, to step into an estate. --
To step out. (a) (Mil.) To increase the length, but not the rapidity, of the step, extending it to thirty-tree inches. (b) To go out for a short distance or a short time. --
To step short (Mil.), to diminish the length or rapidity of the step according to the established rules. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To set, as the foot. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Naut.) To fix the foot of (a mast) in its step; to erect. [ 1913 Webster ]

To step off, to measure by steps, or paces; hence, to divide, as a space, or to form a series of marks, by successive measurements, as with dividers. [ 1913 Webster ]

. [ AS. steóp-; akin to OFries. stiap-, stiep-, D. & G. stief-, OHG. stiuf-, Icel. stj&unr_;p-, Sw. styf-, and to AS. āstēpan, āsteópan, to deprive, bereave, as children of their parents, OHG. stiufen. ] A prefix used before father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, child, etc., to indicate that the person thus spoken of is not a blood relative, but is a relative by the marriage of a parent; as, a stepmother to X is the wife of the father of X, married by him after the death of the mother of X. See Stepchild, Stepdaughter, Stepson, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A brother by the marriage of one's father with the mother of another, or of one's mother with the father of another. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. steópcild. ] 1. A bereaved child; one who has lost father or mother. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A son or daughter of one's wife or husband by a former marriage. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A stepmother. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. steópdohtor. ] A daughter of one's wife or husband by a former marriage. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Elec.) Transforming or converting a current of high potential or voltage into one of low voltage; as, a step-down transformer. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ AS. steópfaeder. ] The husband of one's mother by a subsequent marriage. [ 1913 Webster ]