From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Step \Step\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Stepped}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Stepping}.] [AS. staeppan; akin to OFries. steppa, D.
stappen to step, stap a step, OHG. stepfen to step, G. stapfe
a footstep, OHG. stapfo, G. stufe a step to step on; cf. Gr.
? to shake about, handle roughly, stamp (?). Cf. {Stamp}, n.
& a.]
1. To move the foot in walking; to advance or recede by
raising and moving one of the feet to another resting
place, or by moving both feet in succession.
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2. To walk; to go on foot; esp., to walk a little distance;
as, to step to one of the neighbors.
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3. To walk slowly, gravely, or resolutely.
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Home the swain retreats,
His flock before him stepping to the fold.
--Thomson.
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4. Fig.: To move mentally; to go in imagination.
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They are stepping almost three thousand years back
into the remotest antiquity. --Pope.
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{To step aside}, to walk a little distance from the rest; to
retire from company.
{To step forth}, to move or come forth.
{To step in} or {To step into}.
(a) To walk or advance into a place or state, or to
advance suddenly in.
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Whosoever then first, after the troubling of the
water, stepped in, was made whole of whatsoever
disease he had. --John v. 4.
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(b) To enter for a short time; as, I just stepped into the
house.
(c) To obtain possession without trouble; to enter upon
easily or suddenly; as, to step into an estate.
{To step out}.
(a) (Mil.) To increase the length, but not the rapidity,
of the step, extending it to thirty-tree inches.
(b) To go out for a short distance or a short time.
{To step short} (Mil.), to diminish the length or rapidity of
the step according to the established rules.
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