baby step

noun

|Updated on: 3 Jul 2018

Definition of baby step

: a very small step or advance in progress

These companies can create products that take a real leap forward, rather than the traditional baby steps that larger companies with greater commitments must make.
—Home Theater

—

baby-step

play \ˈbā-bē-ˌstep\ verb, transitive + intransitive baby-stepped; baby-stepping

- … after the 2-1 victory that baby-stepped the sixth-place Rangers within four points of the first-place Devils …
- —Larry Brooks
- "This is murder," John Chaney had said in that ever-raspy voice as he baby-stepped toward the court Thursday night. "My feet are killing me."
- —Tom Archdeacon

Recent Examples of baby step from the Web

Why are people so excited about such a small baby step?

— suyin haynes, Time, "Six Things We Learned About Saudi Arabia From the Reddit AMA With TIME's Aryn Baker," 26 June 2018
In the meantime, the 2016 model-year of the Leaf took baby steps toward longer range—giving consumers the option of a bigger battery pack that provides 107 miles of estimated range for about $5,000 more than the $29,000 base model.

— bradley berman, Popular Mechanics, "How Far (Literally) Can the Electric Car Go?," 8 Feb. 2016
No supporter could have expected Everton to throw the gear stick into reverse after Moshiri's arrival and, despite the giant strides the club has made off the hallowed Goodison turf, those strides on it are not even baby steps at this point.

— SI.com, "FanView: Anniversary of Moshiri Takeover Shows Contrast in Everton Success On & Off the Pitch," 27 Feb. 2018
Still, these measures are baby steps, models told us, and there's vast room for improvement.

— lindsay schallon, Glamour, "Following #MeToo, Working Conditions Are Improving for Models Backstage—But Slowly," 15 Feb. 2018
With temperatures taking baby steps toward hot, beauty novices and risk takers alike may be tempted to take the full peroxide plunge.

— lauren valenti, Vogue, "The Best Platinum Blondes of All Time, From Courtney Love to Kristen Stewart," 25 May 2018
Another of Silicon Valley’s biggest unicorns appears to be slowly edging toward the public stock markets — even if only by baby steps.

— michael j. de la merced, New York Times, "Airbnb Names First Independent Board Member," 25 Jan. 2018
If there ever is to be legislation to curtail America's gun culture - even baby steps like better background checks or increasing the gun-buying age -- these are the people who need convincing.

— michael k. mcintyre, cleveland.com, "Even without the bombast and shouting, it's hard to find common ground on school safety and guns: Michael K. McIntyre," 11 Nov. 2017
The United States has just started to take baby steps, with the Senate and House of Representatives hosting committee hearings with Zuckerberg last week.

— emily stewart, Vox, "Nobody knows who was behind half of the divisive ads on Facebook ahead of the 2016 election," 18 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'baby step.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of baby step

1825

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up baby step? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show

baby step

Definition of baby step

baby-step

Recent Examples of baby step from the Web

First Known Use of baby step

Seen and Heard

WORD OF THE DAY

declivity

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Test Your Vocabulary

Words at Play

The Good, The Bad, & The Semantically Imprecise - 7/13

Is There a Difference Between ‘Long’ and ‘Lengthy?’

Add These Rare and Uncommon Words to Your Vocabulary Now!

There's My Ride: 9 Types of Vehicles

Ask the Editors

Ghost Word

2017 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

Literally

Is Singular 'They' a Better Choice?

Word Games

Obscure Shapes

Who Knew?

True or False?

Word Winder's CrossWinder

The Good, The Bad, & The Semantically Imprecise - 7/13

Obscure Shapes

Wonderful Words That You're Not Using (Yet)

Trending: Ocasio-Cortez Sparks 'Socialism' Lookups

Ghost Word

baby step

Definition of baby step

baby-step

Recent Examples of baby step from the Web

First Known Use of baby step

Seen and Heard

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games

The Good, The Bad, & The Semantically Imprecise - 7/13

Obscure Shapes

Wonderful Words That You're Not Using (Yet)

Trending: Ocasio-Cortez Sparks 'Socialism' Lookups

Ghost Word