doorstep

«doorstep» in Mova's school dictionary: the step or flat spot just outside the front door of a house — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 4 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a doorstep, doorsteps)

meaning for a pupil

1) A doorstep is the step or flat spot just outside the front door of a house. tree →

2) «On your doorstep» means very close to where you live. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday life parcels, milk and post are left on the doorstep, and visitors wait there; in stories someone finds a basket or a lost cat on the doorstep. Phrases: «on the doorstep», «right on our doorstep» (very near), «leave it on the doorstep».

examples

• The parcel was left on the doorstep. tree →
• A little kitten was crying on our doorstep. tree →
• Gran waved goodbye from the doorstep. tree →
• Wipe your feet on the doorstep before you come in. tree →
• We have a beautiful beach right on our doorstep. tree →
• The milkman used to leave bottles on the doorstep. tree →
• Never open the door to strangers on the doorstep without a grown-up. tree →
• When he got home his mother was on the doorstep. tree →

note

Countable, written as one word. «On our doorstep» can mean literally at the door or simply «very close by». Safety: a stranger on the doorstep is still a stranger; check with an adult.

In the corpora

• It comes and goes like waves, and people show it in many ways, from tears to casseroles on the doorstep.
• Maddie sat on her doorstep holding a tissue to her mouth and thought: «Loyal to what, exactly?»
• A police officer stood on Kieran's doorstep asking about a bike stolen from outside the Co-op.
• She waits on the doorstep in her coat for two hours; he doesn't show and doesn't text.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «doorstep» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.