watch one's step

1. Exercise caution, as in You'd better watch your step talking to them about a merger. Often put as an admonition, this phrase transfers taking care in walking to other kinds of caution. [First half of 1900s]

Example Sentences

Written as an emotionally charged thriller, "The Betrayal" unfolds breathlessly and with great skill; you become tense while reading it, sensing the impact of a life in which one must constantly watch one's step for fear of being noticed by the authorities, always being careful, never losing control.

From Seattle Times

I don’t 224 know whether it’s Struthers, or Struthers and Gershom combined, or having to watch one’s step so when there are children about one.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• hear 
• listen 
• obey 
• observe 
• take to heart