treat

American  

[treet] / trit /

verb (used with object)

• treats,
  present (3rd person singular)
• treated,
  past participle,  past
• treating
  present participle

1. to act or behave toward (a person) in some specified way.

   to treat someone with respect.

2. to consider or regard in a specified way, and deal with accordingly.

   to treat a matter as unimportant.

3. to deal with (a disease, patient, etc.) in order to relieve or cure.

4. to deal with in speech or writing; discuss.

5. to deal with, develop, or represent artistically, especially in some specified manner or style.

   to treat a theme realistically.

6. to subject to some agent or action in order to bring about a particular result.

   to treat a substance with an acid.

7. to entertain; give hospitality to.

   He treats diplomats in the lavish surroundings of his country estate.

8. to provide food, entertainment, gifts, etc., at one's own expense.

   Let me treat you to dinner.

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verb (used without object)

• treats,
  present (3rd person singular)
• treated,
  past participle,  past
• treating
  present participle

1. to deal with a subject in speech or writing; discourse.

   a work that treats of the caste system in India.

2. to give, or bear the expense of, a treat.

   Is it my turn to treat?

3. to carry on negotiations with a view to a settlement; discuss terms of settlement; negotiate.

noun

• treats
  plural

1. entertainment, food, drink, etc., given by way of compliment or as an expression of friendly regard.

2. anything that affords particular pleasure or enjoyment.

3. the act of treating.

4. one's turn to treat.

treat British  

/ triːt /

noun

1. a celebration, entertainment, gift, or feast given for or to someone and paid for by another

2. any delightful surprise or specially pleasant occasion

3. the act of treating

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verb

1. (tr) to deal with or regard in a certain manner

   she treats school as a joke

2. (tr) to apply treatment to

   to treat a patient for malaria

3. (tr) to subject to a process or to the application of a substance

   to treat photographic film with developer

4. (tr; often foll by to) to provide (someone) (with) as a treat

   he treated the children to a trip to the zoo

5. formal to deal (with), as in writing or speaking

6. formal (intr) to discuss settlement; negotiate

treat Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing treat

• Dutch treat
• trick or treat

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• treater
  noun
• overtreat
  verb
• nontreated
  adjective
• self-treated
  adjective
• treatable
  adjective
• untreated
  adjective
• well-treated
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• treats
  plural

Participles

• treating
  present
• treated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• treat
  simple
• treats
  simple
• have treated
  perfect
• has treated
  perfect
• am treating
  progressive
• are treating
  progressive
• is treating
  progressive
• have been treating
  perfect progressive
• has been treating
  perfect progressive

Past

• treated
  simple
• had treated
  perfect
• was treating
  progressive
• were treating
  progressive
• had been treating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will treat
  simple
• will have treated
  perfect
• will be treating
  progressive
• will have been treating
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of treat

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English verb treten, from Old French tretier, traitier, from Latin tractāre “to drag, handle, treat,” frequentative of trahere “to drag”; see tract ¹

Explanation

If you've been working hard and living thriftily for months on end, give yourself a treat: take the night off and go out to dinner and a movie. One sense of treat has to do with pleasures and special occasions. You might treat your mother to a pedicure, or give your dog a tasty treat. Treat can also mean "to carry on negotiations," (the meaning that feeds into treaty), or "to take care of." A doctor treats your illness with medication. If you treat a boy as an adult, that means you act as though he is one, even if he's only 16. Treat him carefully!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

treat treats treated treating

"As a special treat in honor of President Xi and Madam Peng, I'd like to invite everyone in the room to visit through that beautiful curtain in the back," Trump told guests.

From Barron's ● Sep. 25, 2026

Katie agreed that "people are already worried" and said: "We know they can't treat PCBs and that's not what we're asking for."

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

"I realized that in order to make a drug widely available to treat sarcopenia, the first step is better understanding what is causing sarcopenia in the first place," Arnold said.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 24, 2026

Transportation Security Administration both treat butter as a “spreadable”—frozen solid or not—though ultimately it’s the security officers’ call.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

The eager chickens broke formation and pecked hungrily at their well-earned treat.

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood

Adlakha says Rio treats it "not just as a setting, but as a home with a history", much as an urban filmmaker might treat Mumbai or New York.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

Common advice to fight it includes “closing” your kitchen after dinner, keeping tempting treats out of the house, and doing meal prep at the start of the week.

From Slate ● Sep. 23, 2026

Some failures will be genuinely hard to foresee, and a standard that treats all harm as blameworthy will simply be ineffective.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

Thompson said she often treats her own home like it’s another client.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026

“Oh, wait. We do have some dog treats, I think!”

From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz

“If you want to be treated with leniency, speak up now.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

Noah's death was not being treated as suspicious by police, the court heard.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026

You can stop to talk to someone who may have gone days, even weeks, without being treated like a human being.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026

“And as we transition, we cannot keep making these mistakes and treating people really with the disrespect that dirty energy has treated our communities with.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

Why would a young woman who was treated with genuine decency—even affection, in Mrs. Washington’s view—want to leave an honored position in this great home?

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis

“But I also think treating China as a significant player on the world stage is not a concession. It’s appropriate if we want a stable relationship and is hardly something to worry about.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026

But the demand and price swings have arrived amid a booming market for collectibles, with people increasingly treating items like trading cards and toys as investments.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026

Lansing fire chief Carrie Edwards-Clemons recalled Americans treating one another with “respect, compassion, and love that carried us through the days after 9/11.”

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

"Uncovering this localized immune niche changes how we view neuroimmune interactions and opens exciting new avenues for treating brain tumors and other neurological diseases."

From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026

Farmer started treating patients in August 1996, transporting Zanmi Lasante’s TB program to Carabayllo, and tailoring it to MDR and other local circumstances.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

Related Words

• conduct
• consider
• employ
• evaluate
• handle
• hold
• look upon
• manage
• play
• regard
• respect
• serve
• take
• use