Definition of step

"step" in the noun sense

1. measure, step

any maneuver made as part of progress toward a goal

"the situation called for strong measures"

"the police took steps to reduce crime"

2. footstep, pace, step, stride

the distance covered by a step

"he stepped off ten paces from the old tree and began to dig"

3. step

the act of changing location by raising the foot and setting it down

"he walked with unsteady steps"

4. step, stair

support consisting of a place to rest the foot while ascending or descending a stairway

"he paused on the bottom step"

5. gradation, step

relative position in a graded series

"always a step behind"

"subtle gradations in color"

"keep in step with the fashions"

6. step, stone's throw

a short distance

"it's only a step to the drugstore"

7. footfall, footstep, step

the sound of a step of someone walking

"he heard footsteps on the porch"

8. tone, whole tone, step, whole step

a musical interval of two semitones

9. footprint, footmark, step

a mark of a foot or shoe on a surface

"the police made casts of the footprints in the soft earth outside the window"

10. step

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

11. dance step, step

a sequence of foot movements that make up a particular dance

"he taught them the waltz step"

"step" in the verb sense

1. step

shift or move by taking a step

"step back"

2. step, tread

put down or press the foot, place the foot

"For fools rush in where angels fear to tread"

"step on the brake"

3. step

cause (a computer) to execute a single command

4. mistreat, maltreat, abuse, ill-use, step, ill-treat

treat badly

"This boss abuses his workers"

"She is always stepping on others to get ahead"

5. step

furnish with steps

"The architect wants to step the terrace"

6. step

move with one's feet in a specific manner

"step lively"

7. step

walk a short distance to a specified place or in a specified manner

"step over to the blackboard"

8. step

place (a ship's mast) in its step

9. pace, step

measure (distances) by pacing

"step off ten yards"

10. step

move or proceed as if by steps into a new situation

"She stepped into a life of luxury"

"he won't step into his father's footsteps"

Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)

Princeton University "About WordNet®."
WordNet®. Princeton University. 2010.


View WordNet® License

Quotations for step

To step aside is human! [ Burns ]

Step by step; by degrees.

Step by step lift bad to good,
Without halting, without rest.
Lifting Better up to Best;
Planting seeds of knowledge pure.

So nigh is grandeur to our dust,
So nigh is God to man.
When Duty whispers low, Thou must,
The youth replies, I can. [ Ralph Waldo Emerson ]

A noble deed is a step toward God. [ J. G. Holland ]

A noble deed is a step towards heaven. [ J. G. Holland ]

Step after step the ladder is ascended. [ English Proverb, collected by George Herbert ]

The greatest step is that out of doors. [ English Proverb, collected by George Herbert ]

The waltz is the charging step of love. [ H. Murger ]

I count this thing to be grandly true:
That a noble deed is a step toward God,
Lifting the soul from the common clod
To a purer air and a broader view. [ J. G. Holland, Pseudonym: Timothy Titcomb ]

I count this thing to be grandly true.
That a noble deed is a step towards God:
Lifting the soul from the common sod
To a purer air and a broader view. [ J. G. Holland ]

One wrong step may give you a great fall. [ Proverb ]

Her step is music, and her voice is song. [ Bailey ]

The alphabet is a first step in language. [ A. Boyle ]

Action is transitory, a step, a blow.
The motion of a muscle - this way or that. [ Wordsworth ]

A foot more light, a step more true,
Ne'er from the heath-flower dashed the dew. [ Sir Walter Scott ]

Look one step onward, and secure that step! [ Robert Browning ]

The first step to greatness is to be honest. [ Johnson ]

Each moment of life is one step nearer death. [ Corneille ]

Every moment of life is a step towards death. [ Corneille ]

The lazy servant to save one step, goes eight. [ Proverb ]

Who fears to offend takes the first step to please. [ Gibber ]

He that stumbles, and falls not quite, gains a step. [ Proverb ]

Every step of life shows how much caution is required. [ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ]

Simplicity is Nature's first step, and the last of art. [ P. J. Bailey ]

The first step towards virtue, is to abstain from vice. [ Proverb ]

On the stage man should stand a step higher than in life. [ Börne ]

If you tell every step you will make a long journey of it. [ Proverb ]

The first step to virtue, is to love virtue in another man. [ Proverb ]

Take heed of a step-mother; the very name of her sufficeth. [ English Proverb, collected by George Herbert ]

The first step toward happiness is to determine to be happy. [ George Hodges ]

The distance is nothing; it is only the first step that costs. [ Mme. du Deffand ]

Extremes are ever neighbors; it is a step from one to the other. [ Sheridan Knowles ]

A good faculty in lying is now-a-days a fair step to preferment. [ Proverb ]

Discontent is the first step in the progress of a man or a nation. [ Oscar Wilde, A Woman of No Importance ]

To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge. [ Benj. Disraeli ]

Let us teach ourselves that honorable step, not to outdo discretion. [ William Shakespeare ]

There is a long and wearisome step between admiration and imitation. [ Richter ]

The first step to self-knowledge is self-distrust
Nor can we attain to any kind of knowledge, except by a like process. [ J. C and A. W. Hare ]

Descend a step in choosing thy wife; ascend a step in choosing thy friend. [ The Talmud ]

An original sentence, a step forward, is worth more than all the centuries. [ Ralph Waldo Emerson ]

Honesty is not only the first step toward greatness, it is greatness itself. [ C. N. Bovee ]

Diligence is the mother, while negligence is but a step-dame to all learning. [ Boethius ]

The first step to a good name is a good life; and the next is good behaviour. [ Proverb ]

There are plenty of nobodies in the world; we stumble over them at every step. [ T. Dwight, Jr ]

Whoso is not dutiful to a good mother, shall be punished by an ill step-mother. [ Proverb ]

Defeat is nothing but education, nothing but the first step to something better. [ Wendell Phillips ]

The acknowledgment of our weakness is the first step towards repairing our loss. [ Thomas à Kempis ]

I grieve that grief can teach me nothing, nor carry me one step into real nature. [ Emerson ]

Hatred is active, and envy passive, disgust; there is but one step from envy to hate. [ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ]

Lifted up so high I disdained subjection, and thought one step higher would set me highest. [ Milton ]

Ye may trace my step over the wakening earth by the winds which tell of the violet's birth. [ Mrs. Hemans ]

Pale death enters with impartial step the cottages of the poor and the palaces of the rich. [ Horace ]

The acceptance of favors from the other sex is a woman's first step towards self-committal. [ Mme. de Puisieux ]

I have learned that to do one's next duty is to take a step toward all that is worth possessing. [ J. G. Holland, Pseudonym: Timothy Titcomb ]

Sentiment is all very well for a boutonniere, but a well-tied tie is the first serious step in life. [ Oscar Wilde, A Woman of No Importance ]

To stumble on a level surface is matter of jest; by a false step on a height you are hurled to the ground. [ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ]

Every step of progress which the world has made has been from scaffold to scaffold and from stake to stake. [ Wendell Phillips ]

Great results cannot be achieved at once; and we must be satisfied to advance in life as we walk, step by step. [ S. Smiles ]

Natural intelligence may make up almost every step in culture, but no culture make up for natural intelligence. [ Arthur Schopenhauer ]

A grandam's name is little less in love than is the doting title of a mother; they are as children but one step below. [ William Shakespeare ]

Nothing in life is worthwhile unless you take risks. Fall forward. Every failed experiment is one step closer to success. [ Denzel Washington ]

Wherever there is failure, there is some giddiness, some superstition about luck, some step omitted, which Nature never pardons. [ Emerson ]

Train your son and daughter to an employment, to frugality, to hold the high front and to walk the fearless step of independence. [ Timothy Flint ]

What has become of those personages who made so much noise in the world? Time has made one step, and the face of the earth is renewed. [ Chateaubriand ]

Nor is it enough to have once seen him; they are delighted to linger near him, and to keep step with him, and to learn the reason of his coming. [ Virgil ]

Perseverance and tact are the two great qualities most valuable for all men who would mount, but especially for those who have to step out of the crowd. [ Benjamin Disraeli ]

We die every day; every moment deprives us of a portion of life and advances us a step toward the grave; our whole life is only a long and painful sickness. [ Massillon ]

In love, the importance lies in the beginning. The world knows well that whoever takes one step will take more: it is important, then, to take the first step well. [ Fontanelle ]

Science always goes abreast with the just elevation of the man, keeping step with religion and metaphysics; or, the state of science is an index of our self-knowledge. [ Ralph Waldo Emerson ]

Literature is a mere step to knowledge; and the error often lies in our identifying one with the other. Literature may, perhaps, make us vain; true knowledge must make us humble. [ Mrs. John Sanford ]

Everything dies, and on this spring morning, if I lay my ear to the ground, I seem to hear from every point of the compass the heavy step of men who carry a corpse to its burial. [ Madame de Gasparin ]

The artist is the child in the popular fable, every one of whose tears was a pearl. Ah! the world, that cruel step-mother, beats the poor child the harder to make him shed more pearls. [ Heinrich Heine ]

Charity commandeth us, where we know no ill, to think well of all; but friendship, that always goes a step higher, gives a man a peculiar right and claim to the good opinion of his friend. [ R. South ]

For the short-lived bloom and contracted span of brief and wretched life is fast fleeting away! While we are drinking and calling for garlands, ointments, and women, old age steals swiftly on with noiseless step. [ Juvenal ]

The sublime and the ridiculous are often so nearly related that it is difficult to class them separately. One step above the sublime makes the ridiculous; and one step above the ridiculous makes the sublime again. [ Thomas Paine ]

The first merit of pictures is the effect which they can produce upon the mind; and the first step of a sensible man should be to receive involuntary effects from them. Pleasure and inspiration first, analysis afterward. [ Beecher ]

Life affords no higher pleasure than that of surmounting difficulties, passing from one step of success to another, forming new wishes and seeing them gratified. He that labors in any great or laudable undertaking has his fatigues first supported by hope and afterwards rewarded by joy. [ Dr. Johnson ]

At almost every step in life we meet with young men from whom we anticipate wonderful things, but of whom, after careful inquiry, we never hear another word. Like certain chintzes, calicoes, and ginghams, they show finely on their first newness, but cannot stand the sun and rain, and assume a very sober aspect after washing day. [ Hawthorne ]

Your invitation honors me, and pleases me because you still keep me in your remembrance, but I am seventy; seventy, and would nestle in the chimney-corner, and smoke my pipe, and read my book, and take my rest, wishing you well in all affection; and that when you in your return shall arrive at pier No. 70 you may step aboard your waiting ship with a reconciled spirit, and lay your course toward the sinking sun with a contented heart. [ Mark Twain, Seventieth Birthday speech ]

Man little knows what calamities are beyond his patience to bear till he tries them; as in ascending the heights of ambition, which look bright from below, every step we rise shows us some new and gloomy prospect of hidden disappointment; so in our descent from the summits of pleasure, though the vale of misery below may appear, at first, dark and gloomy, yet the busy mind, still attentive to its own amusement, finds, as we descend, something to flatter and to please. Still as we approach, the darkest objects appear to brighten, and the mortal eye becomes adapted to its gloomy situation. [ Goldsmith ]

step in Scrabble®

The word step is playable in Scrabble®, no blanks required.

Scrabble® Letter Score: 6

Highest Scoring Scrabble® Plays In The Letters step:

STEP
(27)
PEST
(27)
PETS
(27)
 

All Scrabble® Plays For The Word step

STEP
(27)
STEP
(21)
STEP
(18)
STEP
(18)
STEP
(18)
STEP
(18)
STEP
(18)
STEP
(14)
STEP
(12)
STEP
(12)
STEP
(12)
STEP
(12)
STEP
(12)
STEP
(10)
STEP
(9)
STEP
(8)
STEP
(8)
STEP
(8)
STEP
(8)
STEP
(7)
STEP
(7)
STEP
(7)
STEP
(6)

The 106 Highest Scoring Scrabble® Plays For Words Using The Letters In step

STEP
(27)
PEST
(27)
PETS
(27)
STEP
(21)
PEST
(21)
PETS
(21)
STEP
(18)
PETS
(18)
PETS
(18)
PEST
(18)
STEP
(18)
PEST
(18)
PETS
(18)
PETS
(18)
PEST
(18)
PEST
(18)
PEST
(18)
STEP
(18)
STEP
(18)
PETS
(18)
STEP
(18)
PET
(15)
PET
(15)
PET
(15)
PEST
(14)
STEP
(14)
PETS
(14)
PETS
(12)
PETS
(12)
STEP
(12)
PETS
(12)
STEP
(12)
STEP
(12)
STEP
(12)
PETS
(12)
STEP
(12)
PETS
(12)
PEST
(12)
PEST
(12)
PEST
(12)
PE
(12)
PEST
(12)
PE
(12)
PEST
(12)
PET
(11)
PE
(10)
PETS
(10)
PEST
(10)
PET
(10)
PET
(10)
PET
(10)
STEP
(10)
PETS
(9)
PEST
(9)
SET
(9)
STEP
(9)
SET
(9)
SET
(9)
PET
(9)
PEST
(8)
PEST
(8)
STEP
(8)
PE
(8)
STEP
(8)
STEP
(8)
PEST
(8)
PETS
(8)
PE
(8)
PETS
(8)
PEST
(8)
STEP
(8)
PETS
(8)
PET
(8)
PETS
(8)
STEP
(7)
PEST
(7)
PEST
(7)
STEP
(7)
PEST
(7)
STEP
(7)
PE
(7)
PET
(7)
PETS
(7)
PETS
(7)
PETS
(7)
PET
(7)
SET
(6)
SET
(6)
STEP
(6)
SET
(6)
PE
(6)
PET
(6)
PEST
(6)
PETS
(6)
PET
(6)
SET
(5)
SET
(5)
SET
(5)
SET
(5)
PE
(5)
PET
(5)
SET
(4)
SET
(4)
SET
(4)
PE
(4)
SET
(3)

step in Words With Friends™

The word step is playable in Words With Friends™, no blanks required.

Words With Friends™ Letter Score: 7

Highest Scoring Words With Friends™ Plays In The Letters step:

STEP
(45)
PEST
(45)
PETS
(45)
 

All Words With Friends™ Plays For The Word step

STEP
(45)
STEP
(27)
STEP
(22)
STEP
(21)
STEP
(21)
STEP
(21)
STEP
(21)
STEP
(17)
STEP
(16)
STEP
(15)
STEP
(14)
STEP
(14)
STEP
(14)
STEP
(14)
STEP
(12)
STEP
(12)
STEP
(11)
STEP
(11)
STEP
(9)
STEP
(9)
STEP
(9)
STEP
(9)
STEP
(8)
STEP
(8)
STEP
(8)
STEP
(7)

The 117 Highest Scoring Words With Friends™ Plays Using The Letters In step

STEP
(45)
PEST
(45)
PETS
(45)
PETS
(27)
PEST
(27)
STEP
(27)
PETS
(22)
PEST
(22)
STEP
(22)
STEP
(21)
PEST
(21)
STEP
(21)
STEP
(21)
PETS
(21)
PETS
(21)
PEST
(21)
STEP
(21)
PETS
(21)
PETS
(21)
PEST
(21)
PEST
(21)
PET
(18)
PET
(18)
PET
(18)
PEST
(17)
PETS
(17)
STEP
(17)
PETS
(16)
STEP
(16)
PET
(16)
PEST
(16)
PETS
(15)
PEST
(15)
STEP
(15)
PE
(15)
PE
(15)
STEP
(14)
PET
(14)
PETS
(14)
STEP
(14)
STEP
(14)
PETS
(14)
PEST
(14)
PETS
(14)
STEP
(14)
PEST
(14)
PEST
(14)
PETS
(14)
PEST
(14)
PE
(13)
PETS
(12)
STEP
(12)
PETS
(12)
PET
(12)
PET
(12)
STEP
(12)
PET
(12)
PEST
(12)
PEST
(12)
PETS
(11)
STEP
(11)
PEST
(11)
PET
(11)
PETS
(11)
PEST
(11)
STEP
(11)
PET
(10)
PE
(10)
PE
(10)
SET
(9)
PE
(9)
STEP
(9)
STEP
(9)
STEP
(9)
STEP
(9)
SET
(9)
SET
(9)
PEST
(9)
PETS
(9)
PEST
(9)
PETS
(9)
PETS
(9)
PETS
(9)
PEST
(9)
PEST
(9)
PEST
(8)
STEP
(8)
PETS
(8)
PETS
(8)
PEST
(8)
STEP
(8)
PETS
(8)
STEP
(8)
PEST
(8)
PET
(8)
PET
(8)
PET
(7)
STEP
(7)
PEST
(7)
SET
(7)
PE
(7)
PETS
(7)
PET
(7)
SET
(6)
PET
(6)
SET
(6)
PE
(6)
SET
(6)
SET
(5)
SET
(5)
SET
(5)
SET
(5)
PE
(5)
SET
(4)
SET
(4)
SET
(4)
SET
(3)

Word Growth involving step

Shorter words in step

(No shorter words found)

Longer words containing step

counterstep counterstepped

counterstep counterstepper countersteppers

counterstep counterstepping

counterstep countersteps

crowstep crowstepped

crowstep crowstepper crowsteppers

crowstep crowstepping

crowstep crowsteps

diplostephanous

doorstep doorstepped

doorstep doorstepper doorsteppers

doorstep doorstepping

doorstep doorsteps

footstep footsteps

goosestep goosestepped

goosestep goosestepping

goosestep goosesteps

instep insteps

lockstep locksteps

misstep misstepped

misstep misstepping

misstep missteps

multistep multisteps

onestep

outstep outstepped

outstep outstepping

outstep outsteps

overstep overstepped

overstep overstepping

overstep oversteps

quickstep quickstepped

quickstep quickstepping

quickstep quicksteps

restep restepped

restep restepping

restep resteps

sidestep sidestepped

sidestep sidestepper sidesteppers

sidestep sidestepping

sidestep sidesteps

sixstep

stairstep stairstepped

stairstep stairstepping

stairstep stairsteps

stepbrother stepbrothers

stepchild stepchildren

stepdad stepdads

stepdaughter stepdaughters

stepdown stepdowns

stepfamily

stepfather stepfathers

stepladder stepladders

stepless

steplike

stepmeal

stepmom

stepmother stepmotherless

stepmother stepmotherliness

stepmother stepmotherly

stepmother stepmothers

stepparent stepparents

steppe stepped counterstepped

steppe stepped crowstepped

steppe stepped doorstepped

steppe stepped goosestepped

steppe stepped misstepped

steppe stepped outstepped

steppe stepped overstepped

steppe stepped quickstepped

steppe stepped restepped

steppe stepped sidestepped

steppe stepped stairstepped

steppe stepped twostepped

steppe stepped unstepped

steppe stepper counterstepper countersteppers

steppe stepper crowstepper crowsteppers

steppe stepper doorstepper doorsteppers

steppe stepper sidestepper sidesteppers

steppe stepper steppers countersteppers

steppe stepper steppers crowsteppers

steppe stepper steppers doorsteppers

steppe stepper steppers sidesteppers

steppe stepper steppers twosteppers

steppe stepper twostepper twosteppers

steppe steppes

stepping counterstepping

stepping crowstepping

stepping doorstepping

stepping goosestepping

stepping lightstepping

stepping misstepping

stepping outstepping

stepping overstepping

stepping quickstepping

stepping restepping

stepping sidestepping

stepping stairstepping

stepping steppingstone steppingstones

stepping twostepping

stepping unstepping

steps countersteps

steps crowsteps

steps doorsteps

steps footsteps

steps goosesteps

steps insteps

steps locksteps

steps missteps

steps multisteps

steps outsteps

steps oversteps

steps quicksteps

steps resteps

steps sidesteps

steps stairsteps

steps stepsister stepsisters

steps stepson stepsons

steps stepstool stepstools

steps twosteps

stepup stepups

stepwise

twostep twostepped

twostep twostepper twosteppers

twostep twostepping

twostep twosteps

unstep unstepped

unstep unstepping

wastepaper wastepapers