Meanings
nounstep-in (plural step-ins)
plural step-ins
- alsopluralAn item of clothing which one steps into to put on; specifically, women's panties.
‘Doc got that step-in in Memphis,’ the third said. ‘Off a damn whore.’
1931, William Faulkner, Sanctuary, Vintage, published 1993, page 461 more example
One of the girls hoisted her skirt suddenly, pulled and ripped at her pink step-ins and tore them to a sizeable flag; then, screaming "Ben! Ben!" she waved it wildly.
1934, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, chapter VII, in Malcolm Cowley, editor, Tender is the Night […], New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, published 1951, →OCLC, book V (The Way Home: 1929–1930), page 315
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Cite this entry
APA
step-in. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/step-in
MLA
“step-in.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/step-in. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “step-in,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/step-in.
Source: step-in on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.