What is "half step"

Step \Step\, n. [AS. st[ae]pe. See Step, v. i.]

1. An advance or movement made by one removal of the foot; a pace.

2. A rest, or one of a set of rests, for the foot in ascending or descending, as a stair, or a round of a ladder.

   The breadth of every single step or stair should be never less than one foot.
   --Sir H. Wotton.

3. The space passed over by one movement of the foot in walking or running; as, one step is generally about three feet, but may be more or less. Used also figuratively of any kind of progress; as, he improved step by step, or by steps.

   To derive two or three general principles of motion from phenomena, and afterwards to tell us how the properties and actions of all corporeal things follow from those manifest principles, would be a very great step in philosophy.
   --Sir I. Newton.

4. A small space or distance; as, it is but a step.

5. A print of the foot; a footstep; a footprint; track.

6. Gait; manner of walking; as, the approach of a man is often known by his step.

7. Proceeding; measure; action; an act.

   The reputation of a man depends on the first steps he makes in the world.
   --Pope.

   Beware of desperate steps. The darkest day, Live till to-morrow, will have passed away.
   --Cowper.

   I have lately taken steps . . . to relieve the old gentleman's distresses.
   --G. W. Cable.

8. pl. Walk; passage.

   Conduct my steps to find the fatal tree.
   --Dryden.

9. pl. A portable framework of stairs, much used indoors in reaching to a high position.

10. (Naut.) In general, a framing in wood or iron which is intended to receive an upright shaft; specif., a block of wood, or a solid platform upon the keelson, supporting the heel of the mast.

11. (Mach.)

    1. One of a series of offsets, or parts, resembling the steps of stairs, as one of the series of parts of a cone pulley on which the belt runs.

    2. A bearing in which the lower extremity of a spindle or a vertical shaft revolves.

12. (Mus.) The intervak between two contiguous degrees of the csale.

    Note: The word tone is often used as the name of this interval; but there is evident incongruity in using tone for indicating the interval between tones. As the word scale is derived from the Italian scala, a ladder, the intervals may well be called steps.

13. (Kinematics) A change of position effected by a motion of translation.
    --W. K. Clifford.

14. (Fives) At Eton College, England, a shallow step dividing the court into an inner and an outer portion.

    Back step, Half step, etc. See under Back, Half, etc.

    Step grate, a form of grate for holding fuel, in which the bars rise above one another in the manner of steps.

    To take steps, to take action; to move in a matter.

Half \Half\ (h[aum]f), a. [AS. healf, half, half; as a noun, half, side, part; akin to OS., OFries., & D. half, G. halb, Sw. half, Dan. halv, Icel. h[=a]lfr, Goth. halbs. Cf. Halve, Behalf.]

1. Consisting of a moiety, or half; as, a half bushel; a half hour; a half dollar; a half view.

   Note: The adjective and noun are often united to form a compound.

2. Consisting of some indefinite portion resembling a half; approximately a half, whether more or less; partial; imperfect; as, a half dream; half knowledge. Assumed from thence a half consent. --Tennyson. Half ape (Zo["o]l.), a lemur. Half back. (Football) See under 2d Back. Half bent, the first notch, for the sear point to enter, in the tumbler of a gunlock; the halfcock notch. Half binding, a style of bookbinding in which only the back and corners are in leather. Half boarder, one who boards in part; specifically, a scholar at a boarding school who takes dinner only. Half-breadth plan (Shipbuilding), a horizontal plan of one half a vessel, divided lengthwise, showing the lines. Half cadence (Mus.), a cadence on the dominant. Half cap, a slight salute with the cap. [Obs.] --Shak. At half cock, the position of the cock of a gun when retained by the first notch. Half hitch, a sailor's knot in a rope; half of a clove hitch. Half hose, short stockings; socks. Half measure, an imperfect or weak line of action. Half note (Mus.), a minim, one half of a semibreve. Half pay, half of the wages or salary; reduced pay; as, an officer on half pay. Half price, half the ordinary price; or a price much reduced. Half round.

   1. (Arch.) A molding of semicircular section.

   2. (Mech.) Having one side flat and the other rounded; -- said of a file.

      Half shift (Mus.), a position of the hand, between the open position and the first shift, in playing on the violin and kindred instruments. See Shift.

      Half step (Mus.), a semitone; the smallest difference of pitch or interval, used in music.

      Half tide, the time or state of the tide equally distant from ebb and flood.

      Half time, half the ordinary time for work or attendance; as, the half-time system.

      Half tint (Fine Arts), a middle or intermediate tint, as in drawing or painting. See Demitint.

      Half truth, a statement only partially true, or which gives only a part of the truth.
      --Mrs. Browning.

      Half year, the space of six months; one term of a school when there are two terms in a year.

n. (context music US English) An interval of which there are seven in a fifth or twelve in an octave, consisting of two tones whose frequency ratio is about 1.059 or 18/17.

n. the musical interval between adjacent keys on a keyboard instrument [syn: semitone]