step 
Pray you, let 's step in, and see a friend of mine. 
Fletcher, Spanish Curate, iv. 6. 
O, if you please, miss, would you step and speak to Mr. 
JarndyceY IHckens, Bleak House, xlv. 
3. To advance as if by chance or suddenly: 
come (in). 
By whose death he 's stepp'd 
Into a great estate. Shot., T. of A., ii. 2. 232. 
The old poets step in to the assistance of the medalist. 
Addison, Ancient Medals, i. 
4. To walk slowly, gravely, or with dignity. 
The meteor of a splendid season, she . . . 
Stept thro' the stately minuet of those days. 
Tennyson, Aylmer's Field. 
5. To go in imagination; advance or recede 
mentally : as, to step back to the England of 
Elizabeth. 
They are stepping almost three thousand years backward 
into the remotest antiquity. Pope, Iliad, Pref. 
To Step aside, (a) To walk to a little distance ; retire 
for the occasion, (b) To deviate from the right path ; err. 
To step aside is human. Burns, To the Unco Guid. 
To step awry. See awn/. To step out, to increase the 
length of the step and the rapidity of motion. 
Jack or Donald marches away, . . . stepping out briskly 
to the tune of "The Girl I left behind me." 
Thackeray, Vanity Fair, xxx. 
II. trans. 1. To set; plant, as in stepping: 
as, step your foot on this thwart; he has never 
stepped foot in the city. [Familiar.] 2. To 
measure by stepping: as, to step off the dis- 
tance. 3. To perform by stepping, as a dance: 
as, he stepped a stately galliard. 4. To place 
or set (two or more cutting-tools) in a tool-post 
or -rest in such manner that they simultane- 
ously make successive cuts each respectively 
deeper than the preceding one, so that these 
cuts present the appearance of a series of ledges 
or steps. 5. Naut., to fix the foot of (a mast) 
in its step, as in readiness for setting sail. 
Step (stop), n. [< ME. steppe, < AS. steepe, a step, 
footstep, = MD. stappe, steppe, stap, step, D. stop 
= OHG. stapfo, staffu, MHG. G. stapfe ( > It. staf- 
fa, a stirrup, > ult. E. stuffier), a footstep, foot- 
print; from the verb.] 1. A pace; a com- 
pleted movement made in raising the foot and 
setting it down again, as in walking, running, 
or dancing. 
I'll . . . turn two mincing steps 
Into a manly stride. Sltak., M. of V., iii. 4. 67. 
An Inadvertent step may crush the snail. 
Cowper, Task, vi. 604. 
Hence 2. In the plural , walk ; passage ; course 
or direction in which one goes by walking. 
Conduct my steps to find the fatal tree 
In this deep forest. Dryden, Mneid, vi. 276. 
But not by thee my steps shall be, 
For ever and for ever. 
Tennyson, A Farewell. 
3. A support for the foot in ascending or de- 
scending: as, steps cut in a glacier; a structure 
or an appliance used to facilitate mounting 
from one level to another, whether alone or 
as one of a series: as, a stone step (a block 
of stone having a horizontal surface for the 
foot); a step of a staircase (one of the gradi- 
ents composed of the tread and riser taken to- 
gether) ; the step of a ladder (one of the rungs 
or rounds, or one of the treads or foot-pieces in 
a step-ladder). 
The breadth of every single step or stair [should] be never 
less than one foot. Sir H. Wotton, Reliquiaj, p. 36. 
An hundred winding steps convey 
That conclave to the upper day. 
Scott, Marmion, ii. 33. 
On the step of the altar, in front of the railing, were 
kneeling a band of the Fratres Penitential 
C. E. Xorton, Travel and Study in Italy, p. 6. 
Specifically- (a) pi. A step-ladder. Also called pair of 
steps and set of steps, (b) A foot-piece for entering or 
alighting from a vehicle. 
4. The space passed over or measured by one 
movement of the foot, as in walking; the dis- 
tance between the feet in walking when both 
teet are on the ground ; a half -pace. 
If you move a step 
Beyond this ground you tread on, you are lost. 
Fletcher, Spanish Curate, v. 3. 
The gradus, a Roman measure, may be translated a step 
or the half of a passus or pace. Artmlhnot. 
5. An inconsiderable space; a short distance 
a distance easily walked. 
'Tis but a step, sir, just at the street's end. 
Cowper, To Joseph Hill, Esq 
It is but a step from here to the Wells, and we can walk 
Thackeray, Book of Snobs, xxxv. 
6. Gradation; degree. 
The Turkes . . . stndie their prophane Diuinitie and 
' ."hi wT 9" "">' nine seuerall steps or degrees 
vnto the highest dignitie. Pvrchas, Pilgrimage, p 313 
5932 
7. Degree in progress or advance ; particular- 
ly, a forward move; gain or advantage; pro- 
motion; rise; a grade, as of rank. 
Every age makes a step unto the end of all things. 
Sir T. Browne, To a Friend. 
To earn a garter or a step in the peerage. 
Murtinlay, Hist. Eng.,xxii. 
"General Tufto . . . and I were both shot in the same 
leg at Talavera." " Where you got your */</<," said George 
[punning). Thackeray, Vanity Fair, xxviii. 
The Silver Bill of 1890 . . . was declared to be a long 
step toward the goal of free coinage of silver. 
New York Times, Jan. 16, 1891. 
8. Print or impression of the foot; footprint; 
footstep; track. 
And zit apperen the Steppes of the Asses feet in 3 places 
of the Degrees, that ben of fulle harde Ston. 
Mandenlle, Travels, p. 81. 
He seigh the steppes brode of a leoun. 
Chaucer, Good Women, 1. 829. 
9. Gait ; manner of walking ; sound of the step ; 
foot ; footfall : as, to hear a step at the door. 
A foot more light, a step more true, 
Ne'er from the heath-flower dash'd the dew. 
Scott, L. of the L., i. 18. 
10. A proceeding, or one of a series of proceed- 
ings; measure; action: as, a rash step ; to take 
prompt steps to prevent something. 
It is no vicious blot, murder, or foulness, 
. No unchaste action, or dishonour'd step, 
That hath deprived me of your grace and favour. 
Shot., Lear, i. 1. 231. 
Beware of desp'rate steps. The darkest day, 
Live till to-morrow, will have pass d away. 
Camper, The Needless Alarm. 
1 1 . Naut. , a socket of wood or metal, or, in large 
ships, a solid platform on the keelson, support- 
ing the heel of a mast. 12. In eurp., any 
Steps in Timber-work. 
piece of timber having the foot of another fixed 
upright in it 13. In mack.: (a) The lower 
brass of a journal-box or pillow-block. (6) A 
socket or bearing for the lower pivot of a spin- 
dle or vertical shaft. 14. In music: (a) Same 
as degree, whether of the scale or of the staff. 
(b) The interval between two successive de- 
grees of the scale, degrees of the staff, or keys 
of the keyboard. In the scale, a whole step is a major 
second, or tone, and a half-step a minor second, or semi- 
tone ; and the same nomenclature is transferred to the 
staff and the keyboard. The successive steps between the 
normal tones of a scale, whether whole or half, are collec- 
tively called diatonic ; while intervals involving other tones 
are called chromatic. Out Of step, not keeping step 
Pair of Steps, set of steps, a step-ladder, especially one 
for indoor use. Step by step, (a) By gradual and reg- 
ular process. Locke, Human Understanding, ii. 9. (6) 
With equal pace ; at the same rate of progress. Shak 
Tempest, iii. 3. 78. To break step. See break. To 
keep step, to walk or march in unison ; put the right and 
left foot forward alternately at the same moment with the 
corresponding foot of another person : often followed by 
with. To keep step to, to walk, march, or dance in time 
to : as, to keep step to the music. To take a step, or to 
take Steps, to make a movement in a certain direction 
either actually or as beginning any business; take initia- 
tory measures ; institute proceedings. 
step- (step). [< ME. step-, < AS. stedp-, as in 
steop-bearn, stepchild (-bairn), stcdp-cild, step- 
oh\\(\,stedp-fieder, stepfather, stedp-modor, step- 
mother, etc., = OFries. stiap-, stiep- = D. stief- 
= MLG. stef-, LG. steef- = OHG. stiuf-, stiof-, 
MHG. G. stief- = Icel. stjiip- = Sw. stjitf-, stijf- 
= Dan. stif-, stiv-, sted-: prob. lit. 'orphaned,' 
as in AS. stedpcild, stedpbearn, stepchild, stedp- 
sitnit, stepson, etc., which are prob. the oldest 
compounds, the correlative compounds, stedp- 
f aider, stepfather, etc. , being formed later, when 
the prefix stedp- was taken appar. in some such 
sense as 'subsequent,' 'nominal,' or 'in law'; 
< 'stedpan, found only as in comp., and in the 
secondary weak form, in comp. *d-stypan, *dste- 
pati.in pp. pi. dstedpte, dstepte, orphaned, = 
OHG. sthtfan, ar-stiufan, bi-stiufan, deprive of 
parents, orphan.] A prefix used in composi- 
tion be f ore/a ther, mother, son, daughter, brother, 
sister, child, etc., to indicate that the person 
spoken of is a connection only by the marriage 
of a parent. 
step-back (step'bak), a. [Irreg. < step- + 
back 1 .'] Noting the relationship a deceased 
person bears to his widow's child by a second 
marriage. [Rare.] 
Richard is Henry's step-back father. 
The Nation, Aug. 23, 1888, p 153. 
Stephanie 
stepbairn (stop'barn), . [< ME. steopbern, < 
AS. steopbearn (= Icel. stjupliarn = Sw. x/i,l- 
Imni = Dan. .itijbarn),<. stedp-, step-, + Im'r/i. 
child: see */e;*-and barn 2 , Ixiirn.] A stepchild. 
[Obsolete or Scotch.] 
step-bit (stcji'bit), H. A notched key-bit, 
step-box (step'boks), . A box or casing to 
inclose the base of an upright spindle or shaft- 
step, to retain the .shaft in place and furnish a 
bearing, and to hold the lubricant, 
stepbrother (step'bruTH"er), n. [< ME. stm- 
brotlia; gttpbrooer. < AS. *stedpbrothor (= D. 
stiefbroeder = MHG. xtirt'hrundrr, G. xfirfbru- 
dcr = Sw. strfbroder = Dan. tij'broiter),< stedj)-, 
step-, + brothoi; brother: sec .-.ii'/i- ami brother.] 
One's stepfather's or stepmother's son by a 
former marriage. 
Stepchild (step'child), . [< ME. stepchild, < 
AS. stedpcild (= OFries. sti-iflciiid = D. stief- 
1,'iiul = OHG. stiufchint, MHG! stiffkiiit. (',. stiff- 
I.-/ ml). < xtfd/>-, step-, + did, child: see step- and 
child.] The child of one's husband or wife by 
a former marriage. 
step-country (step'kun"tri;, . A country that 
rears or receives and protects one born in an- 
other country. The speaker in the following 
quotation is an Italian brought up in Sweden : 
Farewell, my father farewell, my step country. 
Disraeli, Contarini Fleming, H. 4. 
step-cover (step'kuv"er), w. On a vehicle, a 
lid or protecting cover over a step, it is usually 
so fitted that the opening of the door moves the cover to 
one side and uncovers the step, or causes it, by a hinge or 
other device, to turn back out of the way. 
Step-cut (step'kut), n. Same as trap-cut (which 
see, under cut). 
Stepdame (step'dam), n. [Formerly also step- 
dam; < step- + dame.] A stepmother. 
Phryxus . . . with his sister llelle fled from their cruell 
itepdam Ino. Purcha*, Pilgrimage, p. 841. 
Step-dance (step'dans), . A dance marked by 
originality, variety, or difficulty in the steps; 
a dance in which the steps are more important 
than the figure, as a hornpipe or a clog-dance : 
usually a pas seul. 
Orth'ris began rowlin' his eyes an' crackin' his fingers 
an dancin' a step dance for to Impress the Headman. 
Kudyard Kipling, The Taking of Lungtungpen. 
stepdaughter (step'da"ter), n. [< ME. step- 
daughter, stepdoghter, gtcpdougter, stepdou-ter, 
< AS. stedpdohtor (= D. stiefdochter = MLG. 
stefdochter = MHG. stiuftochter, G. stieftochter 
= Icel. stjiipdottir = Sw. styfdotter = Dan. stif- 
datter), < stedp-, step-, + d'ohtor, daughter: see 
step- and daughter.] A daughter of one's hus- 
band or wife by a former marriage. 
After hir com the stepdaughter of Cleod.ilis, that hight 
also Gonnore. Merlin (P.. E. T. S.), iii. 453. 
stepet, a. A Middle English form of steep 1 . 
Stepfather (step'f a'THer), n. [< ME. stepfader, 
xtepfadi/r, corruptly stifadre, < AS. steopfirder 
(= OFries. stiapfeder, stiepfader = D. stiefrader 
= MLG. stffradere = OHG. stivffater, stioffater, 
MHG. G. stiefvater = Icel. sljupfadir = Sw. styf- 
fader = Dan. stiffader), < stedp-, step-, + feeder, 
father: see stej>- and father.] A man who is 
the husband of one's mother, but is not one's 
father. 
I schel the telle altogadre, 
Beten Ichaue me styadre. 
Betes of Hamtoun, 1. 464. 
" He was delighted at his mother's marriage." "Odd, for 
he knew already what a stepfather was." 
Jean Ingelow, Off the Skelligs, xvll. 
Step-fault (step'falt), . One of a series of 
small, nearly parallel faults by which strata 
have been dislocated so as to occupy a position 
resembling a series of steps or stairs, 
step-gage (step'giij), n. A gage, arranged in 
the form of steps, for testing and correcting 
fixed caliper-gages. etc. See cut under gage%. 
Step-grate (step'grat), n. See qrate*. 
stephane (stef'a-ne), n. [< Gr. are^nn, the 
brim of a helmet, a stephane (see def.), crown. 
Of. orfyorot, a wreath, garland, crown : see 
Stephanos.] In Gr. archeeol., a head-dress or 
ornament consisting of a band or coronet typi- 
cally high in the middle, over the brow, and 
diminishing toward either side of the head. It 
is characteristic of the goddess Hera, though often repre- 
sented as worn by other goddesses, as well as by mortals, 
and is frequently ornamented with an anthemion, as in 
the example figured on the following page, 
stephanial (ste-fa'ni-al), n. [< stephanion + 
-al.] Of or pertaining to the stephanion: as, a 
stephanial point. 
Stephanie (ste-fan'ik), a. [< Gr. orfyavof, a 
wreath, crown : see Stephanos.] Same as steiilui- 
nial. 
