tread

[tred]

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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.

Idioms

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.

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for tread

trample, squash, march, trace, pace, track, footstep, gait, stride, step, tramp, traipse, subdue, stamp, hike, trudge, ambulate, plod, repress, crush

Examples from the Web for tread

Contemporary Examples of tread

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
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
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
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
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

Historical Examples of tread

No, I will tear his image from my bosom, tread on him, spurn him.
Joseph Andrews, Vol. 2
Henry Fielding
She could hear his tread marching into her life, and could see his face.
Tiverton Tales
Alice Brown
It was fair, and so long that when standing up she could tread on it and bend her head forward.
My Double Life
Sarah Bernhardt
After carrying a heavy pack so long, I seemed to tread on air.
The Forest
Stewart Edward White
He took her soft hand, ere her mother could bar,— "Now tread we a measure!"
Graded Poetry: Second Year
Various

British Dictionary definitions for tread

tread

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 Formstreader, 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

Word Origin and History for tread

Old English tredan (class V strong verb; past tense træd, past participle treden), from Proto-Germanic *tredanan (cf. Old Frisian treda, Middle Dutch treden, Old High German tretan, German treten, Gothic trudan, Old Norse troða).

early 13c., from tread (v.); in reference to automobile tires, it is recorded from 1906.

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