tread

[ tred ]

/ trɛd /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for: tread / treading / trodden / trod on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object), trod, trod·den or trod, tread·ing.

to set down the foot or feet in walking; step; walk.

to step, walk, or trample so as to press, crush, or injure something (usually followed by on or upon): to tread on a person's foot.

(of a male bird) to copulate.

verb (used with object), trod, trod·den or trod, tread·ing.

to step or walk on, about, in, or along.

to trample or crush underfoot.

to form by the action of walking or trampling: to tread a path.

to treat with disdainful harshness or cruelty; crush; oppress.

to perform by walking or dancing: to tread a measure.

(of a male bird) to copulate with (a female bird).

noun

the action of treading, stepping, or walking.

the sound of footsteps.

manner of treading or walking.

a single step as in walking.

any of various things or parts on which a person or thing treads, stands, or moves.

the part of the under surface of the foot or of a shoe that touches the ground.

the horizontal upper surface of a step in a stair, on which the foot is placed.

the part of a wheel, tire, or runner that bears on the road, rail, etc.

the pattern raised on or cut into the face of a rubber tire.

Also caterpillar tread . a metal tread on which a Caterpillar-style vehicle moves.

Railroads. that part of a rail in contact with the treads of wheels.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Idioms about tread

tread lightly / carefully / softly. See entry at tread lightly.

tread on someone's toes / corns, to offend or irritate someone.

tread the boards, to act on the stage, especially professionally: He recalled the days when he had trod the boards.

tread water,

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.
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 of tread

before 900; (v.) Middle English treden,Old English tredan; cognate with Old Frisian treda,Old Saxon tredan,Dutch treden,German treten; akin to Old Norse trotha,Gothic trudan; (noun) Middle English tred footprint, derivative of the v.

OTHER WORDS FROM tread

tread·er, nouno·ver·tread, nounsub·tread, noun

Words nearby tread

treacherously, treachery, treacle, treacle mustard, treacly, tread, treadle, tread lightly, treadmill, tread the boards, tread water

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use tread in a sentence

Every bottle of water, every shell, every replacement tank tread had to be shipped from continental Europe across the Mediterranean to North Africa.
The Real Biggest Myths About World War II, According to a Military Historian|Olivia B. Waxman|May 7, 2021|Time
Tires must be inflated properly, and a good tread depth will help with traction on wet roads.
Hints From Heloise: April showers bring slippery roads|Heloise Heloise|April 15, 2021|Washington Post
Bergeson says that Toyo uses different compound materials for the two categories of tires, as well as different tread designs.
Everything You Need to Know About All-Terrain Tires|Wes Siler|April 6, 2021|Outside Online
The pattern of that tread will also be designed to grip loose surfaces, while evacuating water, mud, small rocks, and snow as efficiently as possible.
Everything You Need to Know About All-Terrain Tires|Wes Siler|April 6, 2021|Outside Online

To merit this stamp, a two-dimensional analysis of a tire’s tread pattern must demonstrate that at least 25 percent of the tread’s surface area is made up of grooves.
Everything You Need to Know About All-Terrain Tires|Wes Siler|April 6, 2021|Outside Online
We feel their strangeness when we read their words—they lived on a plane where few dare to tread.
Sor Juana: Mexico’s Most Erotic Poet and Its Most Dangerous Nun|Katie Baker|November 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It really set the tone for the second half of Season 5, ending with that great “tread lightly” encounter between Hank and Walt.
Bryan Cranston on Walter White’s Future, Directing ‘Better Call Saul,’ and Hillary 2016|Marlow Stern|August 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The interim, however, is ours, and here we must tread carefully.
Alleged Santa Barbara Killer Elliot Rodger and the Twisted Cult of Modern Masculinity|James Poulos|May 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The moral philosopher Michael Sandel observed, “Fundamentalists rush in where liberals fear to tread.”
How Liberals Abandoned Religion to the Fundamentalist Right|Christopher Moraff|May 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
She says that Italy must tread carefully not to allow this to happen.
‘Hero’ Doc Accused of Harvesting Stem Cells in Dirty Basements|Barbie Latza Nadeau|April 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Their heads might have been turned upside-down, so absolutely did they tread upon blue ether.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin
You know MacRae, Lyn; it's mighty poor business for any man to tread on his toes, much less go walking rough-shod all over him.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair
At last, some one came, a man, and his firm tread of boot-shod feet betokened a soldier.
The Red Year|Louis Tracy
He shall not tread out wine in the press that was wont to tread it out: the voice of the treaders I have taken away.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version|Various
The lowing of cattle and the soft stumbling tread of many unshod feet told him that some one was approaching.
The Red Year|Louis Tracy

British Dictionary definitions for tread

tread

/ (trɛd) /

verb treads, treading, trod, trodden or trod

to walk or trample in, on, over, or across (something)

(when intr, foll by on) to crush or squash by or as if by treadingto tread grapes; to tread on a spider

(intr sometimes foll by on) to subdue or repress, as by doing injury (to)to tread on one's inferiors

(tr) to do by walking or dancingto tread a measure

(tr) (of a male bird) to copulate with (a female bird)

tread lightly to proceed with delicacy or tact

tread on someone's toes to offend or insult someone, esp by infringing on his sphere of action, etc

tread water to stay afloat in an upright position by moving the legs in a walking motion

noun

a manner or style of walking, dancing, etca light tread

the act of treading

the top surface of a step in a staircase

the outer part of a tyre or wheel that makes contact with the road, esp the grooved surface of a pneumatic tyre

the part of a rail that wheels touch

the part of a shoe that is generally in contact with the ground

vet science an injury to a horse's foot caused by the opposite foot, or the foot of another horse

a rare word for footprint

Derived forms of tread

treader, noun

Word Origin for tread

Old English tredan; related to Old Norse trotha , Old High German tretan, Swedish träda

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with tread

tread

In addition to the idioms beginning with tread

tread the boards
tread water

also see:

fools rush in where angels fear to tread
step (tread) on one's toes

tread

Idioms about tread

Origin of tread

OTHER WORDS FROM tread

Words nearby tread

Words related to tread

How to use tread in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for tread

Derived forms of tread

Word Origin for tread

Other Idioms and Phrases with tread