steps

A step has several related meanings in English. Primarily, it denotes a single action within a planned sequence or a stage in a process. A step also refers to one of the units that make up a staircase, allowing ascent or descent.

In procedures and workflows, steps describe actions to be performed in order. They are typically enumerated and may include conditional branches, loops, or prerequisites. Clear steps minimize ambiguity and enable consistent results across users and contexts.

In architecture and construction, a step is a tread that a person steps on, paired with a vertical rise called a riser. Stairs are designed with uniform dimensions to provide safety and comfort, though local building codes specify minimum and maximum values for each component.

In mathematics and computing, a step can denote a discrete increment, a time step in simulations, or a step function that changes value at a threshold. In debugging and algorithm design, developers talk about stepping through code to observe behavior line by line.

The word is also used metaphorically to describe stages toward a goal, such as steps in a plan or steps of progress. Common issues in step-based descriptions include ambiguity, hidden prerequisites, and missing conditions.

See also: staircase, procedure, algorithm, time step, step function.