stairstep

American  

[stair-step] / ˈstɛərˌstɛp /

Or stair-step

noun

1. a step in a staircase.

2. stairsteps, stairs; a staircase.

3. a person or thing whose position, status, behavior, or the like suggests the shape or rise of the steps in a staircase.

   Their six children are stairsteps ranging from ages two to twelve.

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verb (used without object)

stairstepped, stairstepping

1. to occur or move in a regular pattern suggesting the steps of a staircase.

   housing units stairstepping down the hill to the edge of the lake.

adjective

1. suggesting or resembling the steps of a staircase, as in movement or shape.

   stairstep progress in improved appliance sales.

Etymology

Origin of stairstep

First recorded in 1825–35; stair + step

Example Sentences

Though Hiawatha provides many access points, its stairstep entry at the southeast corner of California Avenue and Lander Street offers an evergreen treat absent in 1911.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 1, 2023

Use an old toothbrush to apply the solution to the grout, starting at the top and working down and crosswise, in a stairstep pattern.

From Washington Post • Dec. 16, 2022

Terracing, which creates a stairstep topography, can be applied to help with slope stabilization, but it must be applied at the proper scale to be effective.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2017

Ms. CeeCee looked at the four of them, a stairstep from John John, the tallest, down to Bit.

From "Look Both Ways" by Jason Reynolds

Sisters on either side, living in the hand-me-down boots and jackets of his older brothers, a stairstep in the parade of Dannenbergs tripping off to church on Sunday mornings in height-descending order.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse