Meanings
- not comparableuncommonOne step at a time; step by step; gradually; by degrees.
He who would see it with his mind's eye must begin by very little, and then by little and little climb nigher and nigher, and stepmeal, as if he were climbing on a ladder, and would be up on some sea'cliff; […]
1852, “A Modern English Version of King Alfred's Blossom-Gatherings from Saint Augustine”, in The Whole Works of King Alfred the Great, volume II, Oxford; Cambridge: […] J. F. Smith and Co. for The Alfred Committee, page 1041 more example
One does not need to underline how, stepmeal (SIC), all this imitates Communist practice. This would be damaging enough. But the new rightist government has gone much further. It has laid strict control on the Greek Orthodox Church.
1967 July 28 [1967 May 23], The Christian Science Monitor, “Athens Imitates Communism”, in Balkania, volume I, number 3, United States: Balkania Publishing Company, page 32
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Old Englishstæpmǣlum“step by step; gradually, by degrees”
- Middle English*stepmele
- Englishstepmeal
From Middle English *stepmele, *stapmele, from Old English stæpmǣlum (“step by step; gradually, by degrees”), equivalent to step + -meal.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
stepmeal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stepmeal
“stepmeal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stepmeal. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “stepmeal,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/stepmeal.
Source: stepmeal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.