step out

verb

1. to go outside or leave a room, building, etc, esp briefly

2. to begin to walk more quickly and take longer strides

3. informal,  to withdraw from involvement; bow out

4. informal,  to be a boyfriend or girlfriend (of someone), esp publicly

Idioms and Phrases

Walk briskly, as in He stepped out in time to the music . [c. 1800]

Also, step outside . Go outside briefly, as in He just stepped out for a cigarette . [First half of 1500s]

Go out for an evening of entertainment, as in They're stepping out again tonight .

step out with . Accompany or consort with a person as when going on a date, as in She's been stepping out with him for a month . [ Colloquial ; early 1900s]

Example Sentences

When officers searched a seventh-floor apartment and stepped out onto the apartment balcony, there they found their suspects — huddled and trying to stay out of view on a neighboring balcony.

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"But once you step out on the field, your competitive instincts kick in and you just lock into the contest."

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Instead, as soon as they stepped out of the courtroom with their children, she was torn from her husband's arms and thrown to the ground by immigration officers as they detained him.

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The crowd erupted — elated to witness one of the greatest actors of our time step out of retirement to embody a role in his son’s directorial debut.

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He suspects that’s because families are choosing to isolate, only stepping out for the absolutely necessary.

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Related Words

• bask 
• rejoice