walking with short steps
Rare term describing a gait with small, quick steps. Not in common modern use.
彼女は小歩きで急いでいた。
She was hurrying with short, quick steps.
Archaic term for a young male servant or errand runner. No longer used in modern Japanese.
In the Edo period, errand boys ran errands for merchant houses.
Compound of 小 (ko, 'small') + 歩き (aruki, 'walking'). The archaic sense 'errand boy' likely derives from the image of a servant scurrying about with short steps.