"step change" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "The concept has been borrowed from mathematics and technology terminology, from step function.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "step changes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "step change (plural step changes)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2007 January 10, Michael McCarthy, Stephen Castle, “http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/eu-climate-change-will-transform-the-face-of-the-continent-431491.html”, in The Independent:",
          "text": "The report, stark and uncompromising, marks a step change in Europe's own role in pushing for international action to combat climate change, as it will be used in a bid to commit the EU to ambitious new targets for cutting emissions of greenhouse gases.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2019 November 6, Philip Haigh, “Analysis”, in Rail, page 32:",
          "text": "This 'pre-funding' helps smooth payments and avoids step-changes in charges to operators, according to ORR [Office of Rail and Road].",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A sudden, discontinuous change."
      ],
      "id": "en-step_change-en-noun-oi5wU0AB",
      "links": [
        [
          "sudden",
          "sudden"
        ],
        [
          "discontinuous",
          "discontinuous"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "paradigm shift"
        },
        {
          "word": "quantum leap"
        },
        {
          "word": "quantum jump"
        }
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "A sudden, discontinuous change",
          "word": "askelmuutos"
        }
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "en:step change (disambiguation)"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "step change"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "The concept has been borrowed from mathematics and technology terminology, from step function.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "step changes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "step change (plural step changes)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "paradigm shift"
    },
    {
      "word": "quantum leap"
    },
    {
      "word": "quantum jump"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Terms with Finnish translations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2007 January 10, Michael McCarthy, Stephen Castle, “http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/eu-climate-change-will-transform-the-face-of-the-continent-431491.html”, in The Independent:",
          "text": "The report, stark and uncompromising, marks a step change in Europe's own role in pushing for international action to combat climate change, as it will be used in a bid to commit the EU to ambitious new targets for cutting emissions of greenhouse gases.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2019 November 6, Philip Haigh, “Analysis”, in Rail, page 32:",
          "text": "This 'pre-funding' helps smooth payments and avoids step-changes in charges to operators, according to ORR [Office of Rail and Road].",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A sudden, discontinuous change."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "sudden",
          "sudden"
        ],
        [
          "discontinuous",
          "discontinuous"
        ]
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "en:step change (disambiguation)"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "A sudden, discontinuous change",
      "word": "askelmuutos"
    }
  ],
  "word": "step change"
}