baby step

noun

: a very small step or advance in progress

These companies can create products that take a real leap forward, rather than the traditional baby steps that larger companies with greater commitments must make.

—Home Theater

baby-step

ˈbā-bē-ˌstep 

verb, transitive + intransitive

baby-stepped; baby-stepping

… after the 2-1 victory that baby-stepped the sixth-place Rangers within four points of the first-place Devils …

—Larry Brooks

"This is murder," John Chaney had said in that ever-raspy voice as he baby-stepped toward the court Thursday night. "My feet are killing me."

—Tom Archdeacon

Examples of baby step in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

For us, Inside Out 2 is a beautiful (albeit triggering) look back at shedding your childhood self as puberty arrives and taking those baby steps into young adulthood. —Lauren Brown West-Rosenthal, Parents, 14 June 2024

So far, Cruise has taken baby steps back to the road. —Yiwen Lu, New York Times, 30 May 2024

Men lie, women lie, numbers don’t: Clark came into Friday’s game averaging 17.8 points per game (15th most in the WNBA) and 5.8 assists (8th) – and these are her baby steps? —Mirjam Swanson, Orange County Register, 24 May 2024

The Netflix Cup and Netflix Slam exhibition golf and tennis matches were baby steps, with the recent Tom Brady roast building on that. —Alex Weprin, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1825, in the meaning defined above