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Glite Dictionary
to keep step

to keep step

1 3.2
Move at the same pace as other people when walking or marching
  • phrasal verb
  • /kip stɛp/
translation icon : mantener el paso
  • He kept step and never conveyed any notion of his intentions.

Examples

  • Amsterdam starts toward the Old Brewery, Johnny keeping step. # AMSTERDAM #

    Fiction book (2002)

  • "We say that we will have to keep step with Iran."

    Blog text (31)

  • D'Artagnan keeps step with the cloaked figure, the retinue.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • As they marched in formation, the soldiers had to keep step with the commanding officer's pace.

  • To stay in sync during the dance practice, everyone must keep step with the instructor's movements.

  • The children happily kept step with their teacher as they walked to the playground.

Synonyms

to keep pace
vsto keep step
29 3.5

Move at the same speed as someone or something

is limited to moving together physically especially walking or marching
to stay in step with
vsto keep step
1 3.9

Keep up with changes so you do not fall behind

is physical movement at the same pace used when walking or marching

Antonyms

to fall behind
70 2.8

To not keep up with others or a schedule

to lag
24 3.0

To move or develop more slowly than others

How Synchronized

lockstep
1 7.7
to keep step
1 3.2
to keep pace
29 3.5

Surface Forms

keep step infinitive
kept step past
kept step past participle
keeping step present participle
keeps step third person singular

Morphology

keep + step

The meaning 'to move at the same pace as someone else' is directly built from 'keep' (to maintain) plus 'step' (a foot movement), so a learner who knows both words can reasonably infer maintaining the same stepping rhythm. This compositional pattern (maintain + pace/step) is cross-linguistically common and mirrors forms like 'keep pace', making the expression immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner.

Etymology

The verb keep step comes from marching, when people try to keep the same step as each other, like soldiers matching a drumbeat, so it now means 'to move at the same pace as someone else'.