emboîter

Literally to fit one piece into another so they interlock (emboîter les pièces d'un puzzle), and central to the very common idiom emboîter le pas (à quelqu'un) — to follow right behind someone, literally or figuratively (following their example).

• Ces deux pièces s'emboîtent parfaitement. — These two pieces fit together perfectly.
• Elle a emboîté le pas à son mentor. — She followed in her mentor's footsteps.
• Range les boîtes en les emboîtant les unes dans les autres. — Store the boxes by fitting them inside one another.

The idiom emboîter le pas (à quelqu'un) means to follow someone's example, not literally to walk in step behind them — learners sometimes take it too literally instead of as the figurative "follow suit" it usually means.

• expression Emboîter le pas — An idiom from the late 19th century built on the literal image of fitting one's footsteps into someone else's tracks while walking, extended to mean following their example.