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• step-down
  step-down

  adjective

  serving to reduce or decrease voltage.
• step down
  step down

  verb

  (tr) to reduce gradually

step-down

American  

[step-doun] / ˈstɛpˌdaʊn /

adjective

Electricity.

1. serving to reduce or decrease voltage.

   a step-down transformer.

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step down British  

verb

1. (tr) to reduce gradually

2. informal (intr) to resign or abdicate (from a position)

3. informal (intr) to assume an inferior or less senior position

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adjective

1. (of a transformer) reducing a high voltage applied to the primary winding to a lower voltage on the secondary winding Compare step up

2. decreasing or falling by stages

noun

1. informal a decrease in quantity or size

step down Idioms  

1. Resign from office, as in He threatened to step down if they continued to argue with him . [Late 1800s]

2. Reduce, especially in stages, as in They were stepping down the voltage . [c. 1900] Also see step up , def. 1.

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Etymology

Origin of step-down

First recorded in 1890–95; adj. use of verb phrase step down

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

step-down step down

This and a step-down in exits meant EQT’s fee-generating assets under management at the end of the first half exceeded expectations by 10 billion euros at 155.4 billion euros, the analysts say.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

And because step-down facilities for longer holds are in short supply, patients often remain in expensive emergency rooms for longer periods or are merely released.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026

Still, revenue fell by roughly $678 million from the prior quarter, given Covid seasonality and a step-down in vaccination rates from 2025, Tsai noted.

From Barron's ● May 1, 2026

Conventional step-down converters often struggle when dealing with large differences between input and output voltage.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 10, 2026

If the pressure or voltage of the secondary coil is less than that of the primary, we have a "step-down" transformer.

From The Story of Great Inventions by Burns, Elmer Ellsworth

La Liga president Javier Tebas has called for Fifa president Gianni Infantino to step down, claiming the world governing body is "destroying the football industry".

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

Farage's decision to step down means the investigation by Daniel Greenberg, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, into the Harborne donation is suspended.

From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026

In March, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen announced plans to step down once a successor is named.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026

One football fan told the BBC that ahead of the World Cup, people talked less about the team and "kept saying Hong should step down".

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

When we reached the spot 03-01 had designated for our supper — a spreading oak that would afiord us all shade from the afternoon sun — we stopped, and the footman helped us step down.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson

Related Words

• abandon
• abdicate
• bow out
• drop out
• leave
• quit
• retire
• terminate