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half step

noun

  1. Music. semitone.
  2. Military. a step 15 inches (38 centimeters) long in quick time and 18 inches (46 centimeters) long in double time.


half-step

noun

  1. music another word for semitone
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Word History and Origins

Origin of half step1

First recorded in 1900–05
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Example Sentences

Melodies are often semi-sung chants, or rely heavily on repeated notes and small step and half-step intervals.

The steel robot took a half-step toward him, and Burckhardt involuntarily checked his stride.

He makes a half-step towards the burly mass of flesh, still shaking with laughter.

Peter Gross took a half-step forward to restrain her, stopped, and walked slowly back to his chair.

Forward, half step, halt, and mark time may be executed one from the other in quick or double time.

If at half step or mark time while obliquing, the oblique march is resumed by the commands: 1.

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