Staircase: meaning, definitions and examples

Often used in both everyday conversation and architectural contexts to describe a set of stairs within a building, especially if it has a railing or is elaborate.

• The grand staircase in the hotel lobby took my breath away.
• We need to clean the staircase every week.

General term often used in everyday speech to refer to individual parts of a staircase or a small set of stairs, especially those found outside.

• Watch your step on those slippery steps.
• There are just a few steps to the entrance of the building.

Typically used in a more literary or formal context to describe a set of stairs, often emphasizing the passage or journey aspect.

• The narrow stairway led to the attic.
• She descended the old stone stairway carefully.

Commonly used to describe a single set of uninterrupted stairs between two floors. Useful when you want to specify the number of levels or the effort required to climb.

• He lives two flights of stairs up from the ground floor.
• She was out of breath after climbing three flights of stairs.

Typically employed in architectural and everyday contexts to describe a set of stairs that connects two different levels, such as floors in a building.

• She climbed the grand staircase in the old mansion.
• The newly renovated staircase looks beautiful.

A mathematical term used in academic and technical contexts to describe a type of function that increases or decreases abruptly at certain points rather than smoothly.

• In calculus, we studied the step function and its properties.
• The electricity pricing was represented using a step function.