footstep

American  

[foot-step] / ˈfʊtˌstɛp /

noun

footsteps plural

1. the setting down of a foot, or the sound so produced; footfall; tread.

2. the distance covered by a step in walking; pace.

3. a footprint.

4. a step by which to ascend or descend.

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idioms

1. follow in someone's footsteps, to succeed or imitate another person.

footstep British  

/ ˈfʊtˌstɛp /

noun

1. the action of taking a step in walking

2. the sound made by stepping or walking

3. the distance covered with a step; pace

4. a footmark

5. a single stair; step

6. to continue the tradition or example of another

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footstep More Idioms  

1. see follow in someone's footsteps.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• footsteps
  plural

Etymology

Origin of footstep

First recorded in 1175–1225, footstep is from Middle English foote steppe. See foot, step

Example Sentences

In August, 1855, during his consulate in Liverpool, he visited Smithell's Hall, near Bolton, and heard the legend of the Bloody Footstep.

From The Tale of Terror A Study of the Gothic Romance by Birkhead, Edith

As for the Bloody Footstep, I saw it with my own eyes, and will venture to suggest that it was a mere natural reddish stain in the stone, converted by superstition into a Bloody Footstep.

From Septimius Felton, or, the Elixir of Life by Hawthorne, Nathaniel

He measured his own foot, however, in the Bloody Footstep.

From Sketches and Studies by Hawthorne, Nathaniel

In the middle of this enclosure stands a block of rock some 10 or 11 feet high, which, on the extreme top, has a depression, the divine Sri-pada, or Holy Footstep.

From Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara, Volume I (Commodore B. Von Wullerstorf-Urbair,) Undertaken by Order of the Imperial Government in the Years 1857, 1858, & 1859, Under the Immediate Auspices of His I. and R. Highness the Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, Commander-In-Chief of the Austrian Navy. by Scherzer, Karl Ritter von

Yes," said Redclyffe, "I have just read in the County History that the Bloody Footstep was said to have been imprinted in his time.

From Doctor Grimshawe's Secret — a Romance by Hawthorne, Nathaniel

Related Words

• footprint