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tread - 7 dictionary results

tread

  [tred] ,verb, trod, trod⋅den or trod, tread⋅ing, noun
Use tread in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to set down the foot or feet in walking; step; walk.
2. to step, walk, or trample so as to press, crush, or injure something (usually fol. by on or upon): to tread on a person's foot.
3. (of a male bird) to copulate.
–verb (used with object)
4. to step or walk on, about, in, or along.
5. to trample or crush underfoot.
6. to form by the action of walking or trampling: to tread a path.
7. to treat with disdainful harshness or cruelty; crush; oppress.
8. to perform by walking or dancing: to tread a measure.
9. (of a male bird) to copulate with (a female bird).
–noun
10. the action of treading, stepping, or walking.
11. the sound of footsteps.
12. manner of treading or walking.
13. a single step as in walking.
14. any of various things or parts on which a person or thing treads, stands, or moves.
15. the part of the under surface of the foot or of a shoe that touches the ground.
16. the horizontal upper surface of a step in a stair, on which the foot is placed.
17. the part of a wheel, tire, or runner that bears on the road, rail, etc.
18. the pattern raised on or cut into the face of a rubber tire.
19. caterpillar tread.
20. Railroads. that part of a rail in contact with the treads of wheels.
—Idioms
21. tread on someone's toes or corns, to offend or irritate someone.
22. tread the boards, to act on the stage, esp. professionally: He recalled the days when he had trod the boards.
23. tread water,
a. Swimming. to maintain the body erect in the water with the head above the surface usually by a pumping up-and-down movement of the legs and sometimes the arms.
b. Slang. to make efforts that maintain but do not further one's status, progress, or performance: He's just treading water here until he can find another job.
Origin:
bef. 900; (v.) ME treden, OE tredan; c. OFris treda, OS tredan, D treden, G treten; akin to ON trotha, Goth trudan; (n.) ME tred footprint, deriv. of the v.

Related forms:
treader, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To tread
tread   (trěd)   
v.   trod (trŏd), trod·den (trŏd'n) or trod, tread·ing, treads

v.   tr.
  1. To walk on, over, or along.
  2. To press beneath the feet; trample.
  3. To subdue harshly or cruelly; crush.
  4. To form by walking or trampling: tread a path.
  5. To execute by walking or dancing: tread a measure.
  6. To copulate with. Used of a male bird.
v.   intr.
    1. To go on foot; walk.
    2. To set down the foot; step.
  2. To press, crush, or injure something by or as if by trampling. Often used with on or upon: trod on her feelings.
  3. To copulate. Used of birds.
n.  
    1. The act, manner, or sound of treading.
    2. An instance of treading; a step.
    3. A mark made by treading, as in snow.
    4. The part of a wheel or tire that makes contact with the road or rails.
    5. The grooved face of a tire.
  2. The upper horizontal part of a step in a staircase.
    1. The part of a wheel or tire that makes contact with the road or rails.
    2. The grooved face of a tire.
  4. The part of a shoe sole that touches the ground.
  5. Either of the continuous metal belts with which bulldozers, tanks, and certain other vehicles move over the ground.

[Middle English treden, from Old English tredan.]
tread'less adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Tread

Tread\, v. i. [imp. Trod; p. p. Trodden, Trod; p. pr. & vb. n. Treading.] [OE. treden, AS. tredan; akin to OFries. treda, OS. tredan, D. & LG. treden, G. treten, OHG. tretan, Icel. tro?a, Sw. tr[*a]da, tr["a]da, Dan. tr[ae]de, Goth. trudan, and perhaps ultimately to F. tramp; cf. Gr. ? a running, Skr. dram to run. Cf. Trade, Tramp, Trot.]

1. To set the foot; to step.

Where'er you tread, the blushing flowers shall rise. --Pope.

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. --Pope.

The hard stone Under our feet, on which we tread and go. --Chaucer.

2. To walk or go; especially, to walk with a stately or a cautious step.

Ye that . . . stately tread, or lowly creep. --Milton.

3. To copulate; said of birds, esp. the males. --Shak.

To tread on or upon. (a) To trample; to set the foot on in contempt. "Thou shalt tread upon their high places." --Deut. xxxiii. 29. (b) to follow closely. "Year treads on year." --Wordsworth.

To tread upon the heels of, to follow close upon. "Dreadful consequences that tread upon the heels of those allowances to sin." --Milton.

One woe doth tread upon another's heel. --Shak.

Tread

Tread\, v. t. 1. To step or walk on.

Forbid to tread the promised land he saw. --Prior.

Methought she trod the ground with greater grace. --Dryden.

2. To beat or press with the feet; as, to tread a path; to tread land when too light; a well-trodden path.

3. To go through or accomplish by walking, dancing, or the like. " I am resolved to forsake Malta, tread a pilgrimage to fair Jerusalem." --Beau. & Fl.

They have measured many a mile, To tread a measure with you on this grass. --Shak.

4. To crush under the foot; to trample in contempt or hatred; to subdue.

Through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us. --Ps. xliv. 5.

5. To copulate with; to feather; to cover; -- said of the male bird. --Chaucer.

To tread out, to press out with the feet; to press out, as wine or wheat; as, to tread out grain with cattle or horses.

To tread the stage, to act as a stageplayer; to perform a part in a drama.

Tread

Tread\, n. 1. A step or stepping; pressure with the foot; a footstep; as, a nimble tread; a cautious tread.

She is coming, my own, my sweet; Were it ever so airy a tread, My heart would hear her and beat. --Tennyson.

2. Manner or style of stepping; action; gait; as, the horse has a good tread.

3. Way; track; path. [R.] --Shak.

4. The act of copulation in birds.

5. (Arch.) The upper horizontal part of a step, on which the foot is placed.

6. (Fort.) The top of the banquette, on which soldiers stand to fire over the parapet.

7. (Mach.) (a) The part of a wheel that bears upon the road or rail. (b) The part of a rail upon which car wheels bear.

8. (Biol.) The chalaza of a bird's egg; the treadle.

9. (Far.) A bruise or abrasion produced on the foot or ankle of a horse that interferes. See Interfere, 3.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : tread
Spanish: pisar, pisotear, hollar,
German: treten,
Japanese: 踏む
More Translations »

tread  (v.)
O.E. tredan (class V strong verb; past tense træd, pp. treden), from P.Gmc. *tredanan (cf. O.Fris. treda, M.Du. treden, O.H.G. tretan, Ger. treten, Goth. trudan, O.N. troða). The noun is recorded from c.1225, from the verb; in ref. to automobile tires, it is recorded from 1906. Treadmill invented (and named) 1822 by William Cubitt of Ipswich, England; originally an instrument of prison discipline.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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tread

In addition to the idioms beginning with tread, also see fools rush in where angels fear to tread; step (tread) on one's toes.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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