Word.ws English Dictionary

one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind

one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind phrase: (used imitatively) A cliché used to exaggerate an accomplishment or milestone.

one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind: (used imitatively) A cliché used to exaggerate an accomplishment or milestone
Image: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Phrase

one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind

  1. (idiomatic) (used imitatively) A cliché used to exaggerate an accomplishment or milestone.

Origin of one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind

Spoken by Neil Armstrong when he first stepped onto the surface of the Moon. Armstrong intended to say "one small step for a man", but misspoke.http://www.snopes.com/quotes/onesmall.asp

Questions about one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind

What does one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind mean?
One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind means (used imitatively) A cliché used to exaggerate an accomplishment or milestone.
What part of speech is one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind?
One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind is a phrase.

Words near one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind in the dictionary

  1. one should be so lucky
  2. one should live so long
  3. one should never meet one's heroes
  4. one side
  5. one sixth
  6. one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind
  7. one step ahead
  8. one step at a time
  9. one step forward, two steps back
  10. one strike and you're out
  11. one swallow does not a spring make

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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