step down

step

 (stĕp)

n.

1.

a. The single complete movement of raising one foot and putting it down in another spot, as in walking.

b. A manner of walking; a particular gait.

c. A fixed rhythm or pace, as in marching: keep step.

d. The sound of a footstep.

e. A footprint: steps in the mud.

2.

a. The distance traversed by moving one foot ahead of the other.

b. A very short distance: just a step away.

c. steps Course; path: turned her steps toward home.

3. One of a series of rhythmical, patterned movements of the feet used in a dance: diagrammed the basic steps to the mambo.

4.

a. A rest for the foot in ascending or descending.

b. steps Stairs.

c. Something, such as a ledge or an offset, that resembles a step of a stairway.

d. A low platform used for exercise, as in step aerobics.

5.

a. One of a series of actions, processes, or measures taken to achieve a goal.

b. A stage in a process: followed every step in the instructions.

6. A degree in progress or a grade or rank in a scale: a step up in the corporate hierarchy.

7. Music

a. The interval that separates two successive tones of a scale.

b. A degree of a scale.

8. Nautical The block in which the heel of a mast is fixed.

v. stepped, step·ping, steps

v.intr.

1. To put or press the foot: step on the brake.

2. To shift or move slightly by taking a step or two: step back.

3. To walk a short distance to a specified place or in a specified direction: step over to the corner.

4. To move with the feet in a particular manner: step lively.

5. To move into a new situation by or as if by taking a single step: stepping into a life of ease.

6. To treat someone with arrogant indifference: He is always stepping on other people.

v.tr.

1. To put or set (the foot) down: step foot on land.

2. To measure by pacing: step off ten yards.

3. To furnish with steps; make steps in: terraces that are stepped along the hillside.

4. Computers To cause (a computer) to execute a single instruction.

5. Nautical To place (a mast) in its step.

Phrasal Verbs:

step aside

To resign from a post, especially when being replaced.

step down

1. To resign from a high post.

2. To reduce, especially in stages: stepping down the electric power.

step in

1. To enter into an activity or a situation.

2. To intervene.

step out

1. To walk briskly.

2. To go outside for a short time.

3. Informal To go out for a special evening of entertainment.

4. To withdraw; quit.

step up

1. To increase, especially in stages: step up production.

2. To come forward: step up and be counted.

3. To improve one's performance or take on more responsibility, especially at a crucial time.

Idioms:

in step

1. Moving in rhythm.

2. In conformity with one's environment: in step with the times.

out of step

1. Not moving in rhythm: recruits marching out of step.

2. Not in conformity with one's environment: out of step with the times.

step by step

By degrees.

step on it Informal

To go faster; hurry.

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[Middle English, from Old English stæpe, stepe.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

step down

vb (adverb)

1. (tr) to reduce gradually

2. (intr) informal to resign or abdicate (from a position)

3. (intr) informal to assume an inferior or less senior position

adj (prenominal)

4. (Electrical Engineering) (of a transformer) reducing a high voltage applied to the primary winding to a lower voltage on the secondary winding. Compare step up

5. decreasing or falling by stages

n

informal a decrease in quantity or size

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Thesaurus

Verb	1.	step down - give up or retire from a position; "The Secretary of the Navy will leave office next month"; "The chairman resigned over the financial scandal" leave office, quit, resign resign, vacate, renounce, give up - leave (a job, post, or position) voluntarily; "She vacated the position when she got pregnant"; "The chairman resigned when he was found to have misappropriated funds" retire - go into retirement; stop performing one's work or withdraw from one's position; "He retired at age 68" top out - give up one's career just as one becomes very successful; "The financial consultant topped out at age 40 because he was burned out" pull up stakes, depart, leave - remove oneself from an association with or participation in; "She wants to leave"; "The teenager left home"; "She left her position with the Red Cross"; "He left the Senate after two terms"; "after 20 years with the same company, she pulled up stakes" fall - lose office or power; "The government fell overnight"; "The Qing Dynasty fell with Sun Yat-sen"
	2.	step down - reduce the level or intensity or size or scope of; "de-escalate a crisis" de-escalate, weaken minify, decrease, lessen - make smaller; "He decreased his staff"

Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

step

noun

1. The act or manner of going on foot:

footfall, footstep, tread.

2. An action calculated to achieve an end:

maneuver, measure (often used in plural), move, procedure, tactic.

3. One of the units in a course, as on an ascending or descending scale:

degree, grade, level, peg, point, rung, stage.

Informal: notch.

verb

1. To go on foot:

ambulate, foot, pace, tread, walk.

Slang: hoof.

Idiom: foot it.

2. To move rhythmically to music, using patterns of steps or gestures:

dance, foot.

Slang: hoof.

Idioms: cut a rug, foot it, trip the light fantastic.

phrasal verb
step down

To withdraw from business or active life:

retire.

Idioms: call it quits, hang up one's spurs, turn in one's badge.

phrasal verb
step up

To increase the speed of:

accelerate, expedite, hasten, hurry, hustle, quicken, speed (up).

The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Translations

w>step down

vi

(lit) → hinabsteigen

(fig) to step down for somebody or in favour of somebody → jdm Platz machen, zu jds Gunsten zurücktreten; he decided to step down and not stand for the presidency → er beschloss, seine Kandidatur für das Amt des Präsidenten zurückzuziehen

(= resign) → zurücktreten; to step down as president/chairman → vom Amt des Präsidenten/Vorsitzenden zurücktreten

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007