# understep
## English
### Etymology

From under- +‎ step.

### Pronunciation

* Audio (US):(file)

### Verb

understep (third-person singular simple present understeps, present participle understepping, simple past and past participle understepped)
* Not to go as far as a boundary or limit.
** 1897, Boot and Shoe Recorder - Volume 30, page 28:The Questers were many, and fortunately the Answerer did not too often overstep or understep the mark.
** 1963, G. A. Rauche, The philosophy of actuality, page 89:For the moment I experience the conflict as suffering and bear it, I no longer really move within problematic actuality but understep it.
** 1967, The Phi Delta Kappan - Volume 49, Issues 1-10, page 282:They will understep and overstep the bounds of propriety, and even of legality.
** 1989, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. Subcommittee on Government Information and Regulation, Reauthorization of the Paperwork Reduction Act:Either one of them overstep or understep their bounds at any one point in time.
** 2007, Andrew Stevenson, Studying Psychology, →ISBN, page 57:If you're working on a structured question check the number of marks allocated for each part of the question and divide up your words accordingly. Finally, don't understep the word limit.
* To take a step that is not far enough forward.
** 1907, University of Nebraska (Lincoln campus). Agricultural Experiment Station, Annual Report - Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station:As an instance of this inability to control the muscles well, may be cited the almost constant tendency to understep or overstep especially with the fore legs.
** 1945, North eastern reporter. second series - Volume 60, page 499:If a sense of feeling gave him some knowledge of the width of the steps the fact that the third step was ⅝ of an inch wider could not cause him to overstep, but if it had any effect it would tend to cause him to understep.
** 2004, Johnny D. Hoskins, Geriatrics and Gerontology of the Dog and Cat, →ISBN, page 358:Cerebellar dysfunction is characterized by truncal ataxia, a broad-based stance, dysmetria in which the limbs either overstep (hypermetria) or understep (hypometria), and tremor that is most pronounced when the animal attempts a goal-orientated movement (intention tremor).
* To have a gait in which the hind foot touches the ground behind the point where the front foot touches the ground.
** 1932, Douglas Gordon, Field Philosophy, page 187:As a general rule, a stag treads more cleanly than a hind, his stride is longer, the slot itself being rounder and less elongated ; while a hind or young stag understeps frequently, leaving in consequence a more or less double track.

### Noun

understep (plural understeps)
* A gait in which the hind feet touch the ground behind the point where the front feet touch the ground.
** 2010, Louis Liebenberg, Adriaan Louw, Mark Elbroch, Practical Tracking: A Guide to Following Footprints and Finding Animals, →ISBN:The resulting trail is an understep walk—the hind tracks in each pair register behind the front tracks.
** 2012, Jonathan Poppele, Animal Tracks: Midwest Edition, →ISBN, page 27:A few animals, such as bison, commonly use an understep walk, while several species, including black bears, cougars and pronghorn regularly use an overstep walk.
** 2012, Lawrence Mark Elbroch, Michael Kresky, Jonah Evans, Field Guide to Animal Tracks and Scat of California, →ISBN, page 49:Therefore, an understep (where the hind track lies behind the front track) is probably a slower gait than a direct-registering walk where the hind lies on top of the front, and both are probably slower than an overstep walk, where the hind track registers beyond the front track.
* A step that acts as a base to hold something.
** 2009, Gretchen A. Hirschauer, Catherine A. Metzger, Peter Cherry, Luis Meléndez: Master of the Spanish Still Life, page 10:Written in minuscule script and placed on the shaded understep at the feet of the Virgin, the pious dedication was appropriate for the subject and its intended location.
* The underside of a step.
** 1984, Edie Lee Cohen, Sherman R. Emery, Dining by design, page 118:In the back room and understeps, recessed lights are used.
** 1984, Marc Lovell, How green was my apple, →ISBN, page 74:He hit his head on an understep and slammed back down again, gasping with pain.
** 2016, Amy Ignatow, The Mighty Odds, →ISBN:Jay had discovered the understeps before they had even gotten to middle school.
* A movement in which one understeps.
** 2012, Adam Wolfberg, Fragile Beginnings: Discoveries and Triumphs in the Newborn ICU, →ISBN:Understeps were easy to detect, as the paw missed the rung entirely and the rat had to catch itself so it didn't stumble.

### Adjective

understep (not comparable)
* Underneath a step.
** 2000, FY 2000 Budget Request of the District of Columbia Courts:Escalator modernization including handrail speed monitors, Safe-T- Brakes, emergency stop relocation, understep lighting, reconditioning of steps and related improvements.

### Anagrams

* Prudentes