STEP IN

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Act as a substitute

Example:

She stood in for the soprano who suffered from a cold

Synonyms:

deputise; deputize; step in; substitute

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "step in" is one way to...):

replace; supersede; supervene upon; supplant (take the place or move into the position of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "step in"):

cover (help out by taking someone's place and temporarily assuming his responsibilities)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 2

Meaning:

Get involved, so as to alter or hinder an action, or through force or threat of force

Example:

Why did the U.S. not intervene earlier in WW II?

Synonyms:

interfere; interpose; intervene; step in

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "step in" is one way to...):

interact (act together or towards others or with others)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "step in"):

meddle; tamper (intrude in other people's affairs or business; interfere unwantedly)

interlope (encroach on the rights of others, as in trading without a proper license)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Credits

Context examples:

Perhaps you would care to step in, sir, and see his brother, Colonel Valentine?

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The first step in phosphatidylcholine is the phosphorylation of choline to make phosphocholine, which is then activated by CTP.

(Phosphatidylcholine Biosynthesis Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

The first step in testing a new treatment in humans.

(phase I trial, NCI Dictionary)

Heparanase inhibitor PI-88 inhibits the endo-beta-D-glucuronidase heparanase, which may interfere with the heparanase-mediated degradation of heparan-sulfate proteoglycans in extracellular matrices, an important step in the metastatic process.

(Phosphomannopentaose Sulfate, NCI Thesaurus)

Caveolin 1 links integrin subunits to the tyrosine kinase FYN, an initiating step in coupling integrins to the Ras-ERK pathway and promoting cell cycle progression.

(Caveolin 1, NCI Thesaurus)

Cdc25 is a protein phosphatase responsible for dephosphorylating and activating cdc2, a crucial step in regulating the entry of all eukaryotic cells into the M-phase of the cell cycle.

(CDC25 and CHK1 Regulatory Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

Miglustat competitively and reversibly binds to and inhibits the activity of UDP-glucose ceramide glucosyltransferase, which catalyzes the initial step in the synthesis of glycosphingolipids (GSL).

(Miglustat, NCI Thesaurus)

Aureobasidin A inhibits inositol phosphorylceramide synthase, an enzyme that catalyzes a key step in fungal sphingolipid biosynthesis.

(Basifungin, NCI Thesaurus)

The next step in the attenuation of GPCR signaling is receptor desensitization, in which receptors are modified to no longer transduce a signal even if the stimulus is still present.

(Attenuation of GPCR Signaling Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

This pathway starts with glucose-6-phosphate, the first committed step in glycolysis, and can provide an alternative route to glycolysis for energy production.