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step back

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step back

  • /stɛp ˈbæk/ Canada, US, UK
  • /step ˈbæk/ Australia
  • /step ˈbɛk/ New Zealand

verb steps back · stepping back · stepped back

  1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see step, back. Entering Avebury from any direction is like stepping back into the past. Before the centre of the village is reached, the road passes through an immense circle of brooding stones which stand like petrified ghosts of an age about which little is known.
  2. idiomatic To stop what one is doing and evaluate the current situation. Perhaps we should step back for a second and think about solving this problem a different way.
  3. idiomatic To prevent oneself from becoming emotionally involved in a certain situation. As a therapist sometimes you have to step back from your clients' lives.
  4. of a driver at a terminal station to depart driving the train following the train they arrived into the station driving, so as to decrease service turnaround time.
  5. idiomatic To retreat from one's duties in a job; to reduce one's duties, often as a prelude to leaving a position; to take a back seat. He's stepping back from the role to let you start in it.
  6. idiomatic To quietly abandon a belief. You need to step back from the threat you made.

noun steps back

  1. idiomatic A setback, downgrade, or deterioration. Switching to more frequent meetings was a step back for that team, which had too many meetings already.

    Opposite: leg up

  2. idiomatic A reversion to a former state or situation.

    Similar: deconversion, regression, restitution, restoration, reversion, step back

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MLA

"step back." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/step%20back. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

step back. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/step%20back

Chicago

"step back." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/step%20back.

BibTeX
@misc{step_back_2026,
  title = {step back},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/step%20back},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}