| / English Dictionary |
FOOTSTEP
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The act of taking a step in walking
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("footstep" is a kind of...):
step (the act of changing location by raising the foot and setting it down)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The sound of a step of someone walking
Example:
he heard footsteps on the porch
Synonyms:
footfall; footstep; step
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("footstep" is a kind of...):
sound (the sudden occurrence of an audible event)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "footstep"):
tramp (a heavy footfall)
Sense 3
Meaning:
The distance covered by a step
Example:
he stepped off ten paces from the old tree and began to dig
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure
Hypernyms ("footstep" is a kind of...):
indefinite quantity (an estimated quantity)
Context examples:
Her heart beat quick on hearing Harriet's footstep and voice; so, she supposed, had poor Mrs. Weston felt when she was approaching Randalls.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
In the pause which succeeded, a sound like receding footsteps and the closing of a distant door struck on her affrighted ear.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
Suddenly, as the landlady’s footsteps died away, there was the creak of a turning key, the handle revolved, and two thin hands darted out and lifted the tray from the chair.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
A moment later, Matt heard a footstep.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
He had some presentiment that worthy footsteps would follow close behind him.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
She had only time, however, to move closer to the table where he had been writing, when footsteps were heard returning; the door opened, it was himself.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
Martin guided her tottering footsteps to a chair, from where she watched him with bulging eyes.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
He picked his way from muskeg to muskeg, and followed the other man's footsteps along and across the rocky ledges which thrust like islets through the sea of moss.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
I was still puzzling over it when I heard the door gently close again, and her footsteps coming up the stairs.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The neighbourhood, to our ears, seemed haunted by approaching footsteps; and what between the dead body of the captain on the parlour floor and the thought of that detestable blind beggar hovering near at hand and ready to return, there were moments when, as the saying goes, I jumped in my skin for terror.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
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