step

1 an action planned or taken to achieve a desired result <took steps to ensure that there would be no more incidences of food poisoning> Synonyms expedient, means, move, shift, measureRelated Words act, action, deed, doing, feat, thing; course, procedure, proceeding, process; accomplishment, achievement, attainment, coup, exploit, success, triumph; activity, affair, business, dealing, enterprise, event; attempt, crack, endeavor, essay, fling, go, initiative, operation, pass, shot, stab, trial, try, undertaking, whack; effort, exertion, labor, pains, trouble, while, work; project, proposal, proposition; makeshift, resort, resource, stopgap; countermeasure, countermove, counterstep

2 an individual part of a process, series, or ranking <the manual enumerates every step in the procedure for shutting down the assembly line> Synonyms chapter, cut, grade, inch, notch, peg, phase, place, point, stage, degreeRelated Words angle, aspect, facet, side; amount, measure, plane; decrement, increment

3 the mark or impression made by a foot <steps in the sand leading into the water and back out again> Synonyms footmark, footstep, footprint, trace, vestigeRelated Words hoofprint; pug, spoor, track; tread

4 steps pl  the direction along which something or someone moves <their steps led them through a long corridor> Synonyms course, line, pathway, route, routeway [chiefly British], steps, track, wayRelated Words circle, circuit, loop, orbit; arc, flight path, trajectory; ascent, descent

5 a very small distance or degree <he lives just a step away from his elderly mother, so he's there if she needs him for any reason> Synonyms ace, hairbreadth (or hairsbreadth), hairline, hop, skip, and jump, inch, neck, shouting distance, hair, stone's throwRelated Words bit, crumb, dab, iota, jot, minim, mite, particle, smidgen (also smidgeon or smidgin or smidge), trace, trifleNear Antonyms infinity, light-yearAntonyms country mile, long haul, mile