Steps taken towards departures (7)
I believe the answer is:
flights
'departures' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both acts as well as being plural nouns.
Perhaps they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'steps taken towards' is the wordplay.
'steps' becomes 'flight' (I've seen this before).
'taken' says to put letters next to each other.
'towards' becomes 's' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'flight'+'s'='FLIGHTS'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for flights that I've seen before include "Escapes" , "Sets of steps" , "Air journeys" .)