treadmill
Americannoun
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an apparatus for producing rotary motion by the weight of people or animals, treading on a succession of moving steps or a belt that forms a kind of continuous path, as around the periphery of a pair of horizontal cylinders.
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an exercise machine that allows the user to walk or run in place, usually on a continuous moving belt.
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any monotonous, wearisome routine in which there is little or no satisfactory progress.
noun
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Also called: treadwheel. (formerly) an apparatus used to produce rotation, in which the weight of men or animals climbing steps on or around the periphery of a cylinder or wheel caused it to turn
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a dreary round or routine
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an exercise machine that consists of a continuous moving belt on which to walk or jog
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of treadmill
Explanation
A treadmill is an exercise machine for walking or running in place. If it's bitterly cold outside, you might decide to go to the gym and run on the treadmill instead of taking your usual outdoor jog. A treadmill was originally a type of human- or animal-powered machine. By walking on a wheel fitted with steps, a person (or animal) turned it, grinding grain in the process. Treadmills were also used as punishment in prisons where inmates were forced to work. Today the only treadmills you're likely to see are in a gym, but the word is commonly used in a figurative way for any relentless, boring job.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
His training was jogging on a treadmill for two miles and maybe getting eight to 10 miles a week.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2026
Do you want to get off the production treadmill?
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 25, 2026
During these sessions, participants walked on a treadmill while wearing a device on the shin that provided vibration feedback.
From Science Daily ● May 22, 2026
"We just need to also think about the bigger picture to stop more people heading on to this treadmill of obesity later in life."
From BBC ● May 16, 2026
Once I finished with my weight training, I stepped onto my treadmill.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
College Hunks Hauling Junk & Moving says it has been getting more inquiries in the past two years for returning heavy purchases such as treadmills and other fitness equipment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 31, 2025
Many treadmills even have built-in interval programs that guide you through sprint and recovery periods.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 20, 2025
“Had we taken the path of being too cool for treadmills and homemade videos, I can look back and say —”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2025
The answer is usually "yes" – the 1993 classic has been made to work on microwaves, treadmills and even medical equipment.
From BBC ● May 11, 2025
Around the room there were more girls now, mostly on the cardio machines, headphones on, pumping away on the treadmills and ellipticals, but some were lifting weights just like I was.
From "Tradition" by Brendan Kiely
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
