goose step


noun
  1. a marching step of some infantries in which the legs are swung high and kept straight and stiff.

  2. a military exercise in which the body is balanced on one foot, without advancing, while the other foot is swung forward and back.

Origin of goose step

1
First recorded in 1800–10

Other definitions for goose-step (2 of 2)

goose-step
[ goos-step ]

verb (used without object),goose-stepped, goose-step·ping.
  1. to march in a goose step: Troops goose-stepped past the reviewing stand.

Origin of goose-step

2
First recorded in 1875–80

Other words from goose-step

  • goose-stepper, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for goose step

goose step

noun
  1. a military march step in which the leg is swung rigidly to an exaggerated height, esp as in the German army in the Third Reich

  2. an abnormal gait in animals

verbgoose-step -steps, -stepping or -stepped
  1. (intr) to march in goose step

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for goose step

goose step

A straight-legged style of military marching used by the armies of several nations, but associated particularly with the army of Germany under the Nazis.

Notes for goose step

The term is sometimes used to suggest the unthinking loyalty of followers or soldiers: “Brown has a goose-step mentality.”

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.