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step on it

B1 informal inseparable intransitive
In simple words

Go faster! Hurry up!

Literal meaning: To press down on 'it' — the accelerator pedal of a vehicle.

Meanings

1 B1 idiomatic informal

To drive faster; to press the accelerator in a vehicle.

""Step on it!" she shouted to the taxi driver. "We're going to miss the flight!""

"Step on it, Ringo!"

— Pulp Fiction (1994), dir. Quentin Tarantino
Grammar: inseparable
2 B1 idiomatic informal

To hurry up; to do something more quickly in any context.

"If you don't step on it, we'll be late for the meeting."

Grammar: inseparable
Usage notes

Almost always used as an imperative. Originally referred to pressing the accelerator pedal in a car. Now used more broadly to mean hurrying in any context. Very common in American English and in films/TV dialogue.

Commonly used with

driver taxi car late hurry quick

Forms

Base
step on it
I/you/we/they
3rd person
steps on it
he/she/it
Past simple
steped on it
yesterday
Past participle
steped on it
have + pp
-ing form
steping on it
continuous

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Synonyms

hurry up speed up get a move on put your foot down floor it move it

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