step back

present singular third person steps back · participle present stepping back · participle past stepped back · past stepped back

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see step, back.

   Engineers from the Tyne & Wear Metro stepped back in time in December, to conduct a safety-critical inspection of the tramway at the open-air Beamish Museum in County Durham.

   2022 January 12, “Network News: Nexus inspects Beamish lines”, in RAIL, number 948, page 14

   1 more example

   Entering Avebury from any direction is like stepping back into the past. Before the centre of the village is reached, the road passes through an immense circle of brooding stones which stand like petrified ghosts of an age about which little is known.

   1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 40

2. idiomaticTo stop what one is doing and evaluate the current situation.

   Perhaps we should step back for a second and think about solving this problem a different way.

   1 more example

   Making the announcement at 1600 on Friday November 4, the RDG [...] said in a statement: "It is positive that the RMT leadership has stepped back from the brink and called off their strike action.

   2022 November 16, Mel Holley, “Rail strikes halted to allow for "intensive negotiations"”, in RAIL, page 8

3. idiomaticTo prevent oneself from becoming emotionally involved in a certain situation.

   As a therapist sometimes you have to step back from your clients' lives.

4. rail transportto depart driving the train following the train they arrived into the station driving, so as to decrease service turnaround time.
5. idiomaticTo retreat from one's duties in a job; to reduce one's duties, often as a prelude to leaving a position; to take a back seat.

   He's stepping back from the role to let you start in it.

6. idiomaticTo quietly abandon a belief.

   You need to step back from the threat you made.

plural steps back

1. idiomaticA setback, downgrade, or deterioration.

   Switching to more frequent meetings was a step back for that team, which had too many meetings already.

   Antonyms: leg up

2. idiomaticA reversion to a former state or situation.

   Synonyms: deconversion, regression, restitution, deconversion, regression, restitution, restoration, reversion