catch step
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: catches step
form: catching step
form: caught step
form: caught step
Senses: examples: text: They always start wrong, somehow, when they go out together, and then, while he tries to catch step with her, she endeavors to get in with him. After both have been shuffling about over the pavement for several minutes in a perfectly absurd manner, they go ahead out of step just as before.
ref: 1882, Charles Heber Clark, Out of the Hurly-burly, Or Life in an Odd Corner, page 109:
text: Confronted by the beloved music of the South, the old veterans broke into cheers as they left their trains, and unconsciously caught step in time with the music.
ref: 1900, Minutes of the Ninth Annual Meeting and Reunion of the United Confederate Veterans, page 9:
text: Often he'd catch step with a child and march with him to the inside stairway, then he'd go back and take his place on the steps, and when another child came by that attracted him by his soldierly manner, he'd catch step and walk with him to the inside stairway shouting, “ left, left, left, right, left.”
ref: 1941, Katheryn Campbell Graham, Under the Cottonwood: A Saga of Negro Life in which the History, Traditions and Folklore of the Negro of the Last Century are Vividly Portrayed, page 174:
text: He had an arm about her firmly in an instant, and when they had caught step with the music he held her close to him.
ref: 2019, Louis Dodge, Children of the Desert:
glosses: To match the pace (of another person or a beat).
examples: text: And so the pageant moves on and you and I now catch step and for a short time will play our part in making the pattern of the Federation of this day.
ref: 1935, Indiana Federation of Clubs, Year Book, page 2:
text: It was a wonderfully happy day, and I want you to catch step with your comrades, and let bickerings and anger and hatred all fall away in our love for God's good sunshine and love for this great Republic.
ref: 1935, Proceedings of the Stated Convention of the 37th National Encampment of the United Spanish War Veterans, page 153:
text: Speakers sometimes fail to "catch step" with the camp experiences; no speaker should be brought in for the last evening who has not shared with campers all week in their fun as well as their more serious moments.
ref: 1945, Going Camping with Intermediate Boys and Girls - Volumes 1-5, page 9:
text: This great moment in the history of a tangled world is a moment to determine the direction of God and to catch step.
ref: 1961, The Defender - Volume 36, page 8:
text: When I'm eccentric, catch step with me.
ref: 1972, Willa Cather, Lucy Gayheart, page 41:
glosses: To change so as to function harmoniously with; fit in.
examples: text: The quickest way to get acquainted with these new conditions is to have them slap us in the face. Wait till we all catch step again, and then watch this country.
ref: 1921, Michigan Manufacturer & Financial Record - Volume 28, page 5:
text: I had now to take myself over, a going concern, and try to catch step with a swift-moving and clamorous world.
ref: 1946, Ray Stannard Baker, More Adventures with David Grayson, page 221:
text: By organized effort, farmers were struggling to catch step with the economy – so Dr. Taylor argues.
ref: 1953, Agricultural Economics Research - Volumes 5-7, page 101:
text: Lacey was behind in his quest of learning, but Clifton insisted that he need only to apply himself diligently, and he would catch step with the best of his group.
ref: 1978, Lillian B. Horace, L. Venchael Booth, Crowned with Glory and Honor:
glosses: To adjust to advances in circumstances or criteria; catch up.