"step back" meaning in All languages combined

See step back on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

Audio: En-au-step back.ogg Forms: steps back [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun|steps back}} step back (plural steps back)
  1. (idiomatic) A setback, downgrade, or deterioration. Tags: idiomatic
    Sense id: en-step_back-en-noun-O7jfdi9x
  2. (idiomatic) A reversion to a former state or situation. Tags: idiomatic Related terms: double-end [rail-transport, railways, transport], double-ending [rail-transport, railways, transport]
    Sense id: en-step_back-en-noun-S0uN9wHD

Verb [English]

Audio: En-au-step back.ogg Forms: steps back [present, singular, third-person], stepping back [participle, present], stepped back [participle, past], stepped back [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} step back (third-person singular simple present steps back, present participle stepping back, simple past and past participle stepped back)
  1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see step, back.
    Sense id: en-step_back-en-verb-2oa1ZkPA
  2. (idiomatic) To stop what one is doing and evaluate the current situation. Tags: idiomatic
    Sense id: en-step_back-en-verb-2dF-dWa8
  3. (idiomatic) To prevent oneself from becoming emotionally involved in a certain situation. Tags: idiomatic
    Sense id: en-step_back-en-verb-bCDQT9m4
  4. (rail transport, 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. Categories (topical): Rail transportation
    Sense id: en-step_back-en-verb-KJg8Qn5k Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English phrasal verbs formed with "back", Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Esperanto translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 7 5 2 5 5 76 Disambiguation of English phrasal verbs formed with "back": 9 9 7 6 7 63 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 8 7 6 7 6 66 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 6 5 3 4 4 78 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 4 4 3 4 3 82 Disambiguation of Terms with Esperanto translations: 8 7 6 7 8 64 Topics: rail-transport, railways, transport

Inflected forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "steps back",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "stepping back",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "stepped back",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "stepped back",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "step back (third-person singular simple present steps back, present participle stepping back, simple past and past participle stepped back)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 40:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022 January 12, “Network News: Nexus inspects Beamish lines”, in RAIL, number 948, page 14:",
          "text": "Engineers from the Tyne & Wear Metro stepped back in time in December, to conduct a safety-critical inspection of the tramway at the open-air Beamish Museum in County Durham.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see step, back."
      ],
      "id": "en-step_back-en-verb-2oa1ZkPA",
      "links": [
        [
          "step",
          "step#English"
        ],
        [
          "back",
          "back#English"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Perhaps we should step back for a second and think about solving this problem a different way.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022 November 16, Mel Holley, “Rail strikes halted to allow for \"intensive negotiations\"”, in RAIL, page 8:",
          "text": "Making the announcement at 1600 on Friday November 4, the RDG [...] said in a statement: \"It is positive that the RMT leadership has stepped back from the brink and called off their strike action.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To stop what one is doing and evaluate the current situation."
      ],
      "id": "en-step_back-en-verb-2dF-dWa8",
      "links": [
        [
          "stop",
          "stop"
        ],
        [
          "evaluate",
          "evaluate"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To stop what one is doing and evaluate the current situation."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "As a therapist sometimes you have to step back from your clients' lives.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To prevent oneself from becoming emotionally involved in a certain situation."
      ],
      "id": "en-step_back-en-verb-bCDQT9m4",
      "links": [
        [
          "prevent",
          "prevent"
        ],
        [
          "emotionally",
          "emotionally"
        ],
        [
          "involved",
          "involved"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To prevent oneself from becoming emotionally involved in a certain situation."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Rail transportation",
          "orig": "en:Rail transportation",
          "parents": [
            "Transport",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "7 5 2 5 5 76",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "9 9 7 6 7 63",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English phrasal verbs formed with \"back\"",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "8 7 6 7 6 66",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "6 5 3 4 4 78",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "4 4 3 4 3 82",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "8 7 6 7 8 64",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Esperanto translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "to depart driving the train following the train they arrived into the station driving, so as to decrease service turnaround time."
      ],
      "id": "en-step_back-en-verb-KJg8Qn5k",
      "links": [
        [
          "rail transport",
          "rail transport"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(rail transport, 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."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "of a driver at a terminal station"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "rail-transport",
        "railways",
        "transport"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-step back.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/13/En-au-step_back.ogg/En-au-step_back.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/En-au-step_back.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "step back"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "steps back",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "steps back"
      },
      "expansion": "step back (plural steps back)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "antonyms": [
        {
          "word": "leg up#Noun"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Switching to more frequent meetings was a step back for that team, which had too many meetings already.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A setback, downgrade, or deterioration."
      ],
      "id": "en-step_back-en-noun-O7jfdi9x",
      "links": [
        [
          "setback",
          "setback#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "downgrade",
          "downgrade#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "deterioration",
          "deterioration"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A setback, downgrade, or deterioration."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "A reversion to a former state or situation."
      ],
      "id": "en-step_back-en-noun-S0uN9wHD",
      "links": [
        [
          "reversion",
          "reversion"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A reversion to a former state or situation."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "38 62",
          "topics": [
            "rail-transport",
            "railways",
            "transport"
          ],
          "word": "double-end"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "38 62",
          "topics": [
            "rail-transport",
            "railways",
            "transport"
          ],
          "word": "double-ending"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-step back.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/13/En-au-step_back.ogg/En-au-step_back.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/En-au-step_back.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "step back"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English phrasal verbs",
    "English phrasal verbs formed with \"back\"",
    "English verbs",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Esperanto translations"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "steps back",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "stepping back",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "stepped back",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "stepped back",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "step back (third-person singular simple present steps back, present participle stepping back, simple past and past participle stepped back)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 40:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022 January 12, “Network News: Nexus inspects Beamish lines”, in RAIL, number 948, page 14:",
          "text": "Engineers from the Tyne & Wear Metro stepped back in time in December, to conduct a safety-critical inspection of the tramway at the open-air Beamish Museum in County Durham.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see step, back."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "step",
          "step#English"
        ],
        [
          "back",
          "back#English"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Perhaps we should step back for a second and think about solving this problem a different way.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022 November 16, Mel Holley, “Rail strikes halted to allow for \"intensive negotiations\"”, in RAIL, page 8:",
          "text": "Making the announcement at 1600 on Friday November 4, the RDG [...] said in a statement: \"It is positive that the RMT leadership has stepped back from the brink and called off their strike action.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To stop what one is doing and evaluate the current situation."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "stop",
          "stop"
        ],
        [
          "evaluate",
          "evaluate"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To stop what one is doing and evaluate the current situation."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "As a therapist sometimes you have to step back from your clients' lives.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To prevent oneself from becoming emotionally involved in a certain situation."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "prevent",
          "prevent"
        ],
        [
          "emotionally",
          "emotionally"
        ],
        [
          "involved",
          "involved"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To prevent oneself from becoming emotionally involved in a certain situation."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "en:Rail transportation"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "to depart driving the train following the train they arrived into the station driving, so as to decrease service turnaround time."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "rail transport",
          "rail transport"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(rail transport, 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."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "of a driver at a terminal station"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "rail-transport",
        "railways",
        "transport"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-step back.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/13/En-au-step_back.ogg/En-au-step_back.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/En-au-step_back.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "step back"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English phrasal verbs",
    "English phrasal verbs formed with \"back\"",
    "English verbs",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Esperanto translations"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "steps back",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "steps back"
      },
      "expansion": "step back (plural steps back)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "topics": [
        "rail-transport",
        "railways",
        "transport"
      ],
      "word": "double-end"
    },
    {
      "topics": [
        "rail-transport",
        "railways",
        "transport"
      ],
      "word": "double-ending"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "antonyms": [
        {
          "word": "leg up#Noun"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Switching to more frequent meetings was a step back for that team, which had too many meetings already.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A setback, downgrade, or deterioration."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "setback",
          "setback#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "downgrade",
          "downgrade#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "deterioration",
          "deterioration"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A setback, downgrade, or deterioration."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A reversion to a former state or situation."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "reversion",
          "reversion"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A reversion to a former state or situation."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-step back.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/13/En-au-step_back.ogg/En-au-step_back.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/En-au-step_back.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "step back"
}

Download raw JSONL data for step back meaning in All languages combined (5.6kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.