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• Twelve Step
  Twelve Step

  adjective

  of or based on a program for recovery from addiction originating with Alcoholics Anonymous and providing 12 progressive levels toward attainment.
• twelve-step
  twelve-step

  adjective

  of or relating to a method of treatment for addiction which consists of twelve stages and stresses the need for patients to acknowledge their problem and to take personal responsibility for it

Twelve Step

American  

Or 12-step

adjective

1. of or based on a program for recovery from addiction originating with Alcoholics Anonymous and providing 12 progressive levels toward attainment.

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twelve-step British  

adjective

1. of or relating to a method of treatment for addiction which consists of twelve stages and stresses the need for patients to acknowledge their problem and to take personal responsibility for it

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Other Word Forms

• 12-stepper
  noun

Etymology

Origin of Twelve Step

First recorded in 1985–90

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Twelve Step twelve-step

"A patient's treatment plan may include medication, seeing a trauma specialist or getting more support from Twelve Step meetings, depending on an individual’s needs."

From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2024

There’s also a twelve-step aspect to improv’s appeal—the notion that, at the end of all the regimentation and rule-following, you may be not only a funnier performer but also a better person.

From The New Yorker ● Aug. 29, 2016

This is a common impulse among people in recovery; it’s the foundation of twelve-step programs, too—people sharing their experiences with one another.

From Time ● Jan. 19, 2016

There are other ways in which twelve-step practice has helped erect barriers while attempting to relieve suffering.

From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2015

In the mid-nineties, he campaigned most heavily in the city’s black neighborhoods and combined the rhetoric of twelve-step recovery programs, religious forgiveness, and conspiracy theories.

From The New Yorker ● Nov. 23, 2014

Ever since the first can appeared 150 years ago, manufacturers have had to follow a costly and complicated twelve-step process of rolling tinplate or aluminum, then punching, curling and welding a three-piece can.

From Time Magazine Archive