to step to the fore
- phrasal verb
:
dar un paso al frente
- During the meeting, Sarah stepped to the fore and offered to lead the project.
Examples
-
Its regional nodes and ambitious newcomers stepped to the fore while the group's senior leadership fought to gain control of territory, thus helping to reinforce the idea that the senior leadership was marginalized and irrelevant.
Academic text (2008) -
When the team needed a volunteer, John stepped to the fore and took on the responsibility.
-
In times of crisis, true leaders step to the fore to guide others through challenges.
Synonyms
342
3.2
To offer help or information, often to the police
240
3.2
To get involved to help or take someone's place
182
3.7
Take action and accept responsibility for a task or problem
146
3.1
Volunteer to help or take responsibility
79
3.2
To start guiding a group or activity and make the main decisions
32
4.6
To take responsibility and act when a difficult situation happens
22
3.8
To be the first to act to make something happen
9
6.1
Become more noticed or important in a situation
1
7.3
To take on an important role as a leader
1
5.1
Become the main focus of people's attention after doing something important
1
7.7
To take the lead in a group or activity and get others to follow
1
4.2
To lead a group or activity and direct what people do
Become the center of attention in public
Antonyms
How Prominent
Surface Forms
Morphology
step + to + the + fore
The phrase is a direct composition of 'step' (move) + 'to the fore' (to the front), so the sense 'make oneself prominent / take action' is immediately derivable as 'step forward' or 'step into the front'. Although 'fore' is slightly literary, the spatial metaphor is transparent and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would understand the meaning.
Etymology
Step to the fore may come from the image of someone literally taking a step to the fore, the old word for the 'front' of a stage or group, so everyone can see them. So the phrase means 'to be seen' or 'to take charge' by stepping forward to act.