Verb
(separable) To measure by steps or paces; hence, to divide (a space), or to form a series of marks, by successive measurements, as with dividers.
He measured the garden by stepping it off.
(African-American Vernacular, inseparable) To avoid a conflict; to back down
You had better step off, man...
(inseparable) Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see step, off.
He stepped off the train.
step-off
I strongly reject any conceptual scheme that places our options on a line, and holds that the only alternative to a pair of extreme positions lies somewhere between them. More fruitful perspectives often require that we step off the line to a site outside the dichotomy. Stephen Jay Gould
The wild begins where you least expect it, one step off your normal course. Bernard Malamud
We wanted to step off our island and add the color of the third world. We got gold cigarette paper and stuck it around our teeth. We really did look like pirates and dressed to look the part. Vivienne Westwood
I am nothing if not rational about what is worthy of my anxiety and what is not, and I refuse to live my life as if a giant bus is just around the corner, waiting to crush me the minute I step off the curb. Deborah Copaken
As a trader you often walk on the blade. Be careful and don't step off. Marc Rich
She remembered timidly standing atop the Luthadel city wall, afraid to use her Allomancy to jump off, despite Kelsier's coaxing. Now she could step off a cliff and muse thoughtfully to herself on the way down. Brandon Sanderson