to step on it
- phrasal verb
- Informal
- The traffic is picking up, so we need to step on it to get to the airport on time.
- please step on it
- come on, step on it
- go ahead and step on it
And unbeknownst to us, while we weren't able to car Jack him because he stepped on it and got away, he later followed me but followed me all day.
- And unbeknownst to us, while we weren't able to car Jack him because he stepped on it and got away, he later followed me but followed me all day.
Examples
-
Just step on it.
-
Please step on it.
-
- Tell him to step on it.
-
You better step on it, Mr. French.
-
I told my people to step on it.
-
And you gotta step on it.
-
"Well, step on it, Buddy.
Fiction book (2000) -
Floor it, Cody, step on it!
-
You guys gotta step on it to Bixby.
Fiction book (1990) -
Daley: Step on it, driver!
Fiction book (1998)
Synonyms
To move or act more quickly to avoid being late
To move or act quickly because a situation needs it
To hurry so you do something faster, often to avoid being late
To move or travel quickly, often faster than allowed
Climb quickly using your hands and feet on steep or rough ground
To make someone move or work faster than they want
To move or work very quickly to reach a goal
To move quickly with short, hurried steps because you feel afraid or rushed
Move a short distance quickly, often to make room or hurry
Press the gas pedal all the way to make the car go very fast
To press the pedal in a car to make it go faster or hurry to finish something
To hurry when someone tells you to
Press the car pedal to make it go faster
To drive or work as fast as possible, often to finish something
Move quickly to do something
Leave quickly to go somewhere or to avoid trouble
To go quickly to a place, often used in old writing
To move quickly on foot
Move quickly on foot to escape or reach a place fast
To move quickly in one direction
To move quickly with short, hurried steps when you feel nervous
Hurry up and start doing something
To run or move very quickly without control
To hurry to do something so you do not miss a good chance
To move very quickly, usually by running or driving
To move quickly by car or on foot
To move very quickly in a straight, forceful way
Move very fast along a street or path
Antonyms
How Fast
- Informal
- Informal
- Informal
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase relies on the literal sense of 'step on' (to press with the foot) which can be mapped onto pressing a car's accelerator, giving a physical-image basis for 'go faster'. However, the vagueness of 'it' and the conventionalized shift from literal pressing to the idiomatic 'hurry up/press the gas' means the precise sense is not fully predictable for a B1 learner who only knows the constituent words.
Etymology
The phrase step on it may come from the simple picture of pressing a car pedal: you step on it, the gas pedal, to make the car go faster. That's why today it means 'to go faster' or 'hurry up'.