tread

American  

[tred] / trɛd /

verb (used without object)

• treads,
  present (3rd person singular)
• trod,
  past participle,  past
• trodden,
  past participle
• treading
  present participle

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 followed by on orupon ).

   to tread on a person's foot.

3. (of a male bird) to copulate.

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verb (used with object)

• treads,
  present (3rd person singular)
• trod,
  past participle,  past
• trodden,
  past participle
• treading
  present participle

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

2. to trample or crush underfoot.

3. to form by the action of walking or trampling.

   to tread a path.

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

5. to perform by walking or dancing.

   to tread a measure.

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

noun

• treads
  plural

1. the action of treading, stepping, or walking.

2. the sound of footsteps.

3. manner of treading or walking.

4. a single step as in walking.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

idioms

1. tread the boards, to act on the stage, especially professionally.

   He recalled the days when he had trod the boards.

2. tread water,

   1. 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.

   2. 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.

3. tread lightly / carefully / softly. see tread lightly.

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

tread British  

/ trɛd /

verb

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

2. to crush or squash by or as if by treading

   to tread grapes

   to tread on a spider

3. to subdue or repress, as by doing injury (to)

   to tread on one's inferiors

4. (tr) to do by walking or dancing

   to tread a measure

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

6. to proceed with delicacy or tact

7. to offend or insult someone, esp by infringing on his sphere of action, etc

8. to stay afloat in an upright position by moving the legs in a walking motion

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noun

1. a manner or style of walking, dancing, etc

   a light tread

2. the act of treading

3. the top surface of a step in a staircase

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

5. the part of a rail that wheels touch

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

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

8. a rare word for footprint

tread More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing tread

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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• overtread
  noun
• subtread
  noun
• treader
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• treads
  plural

Participles

• treading
  present
• trod
  past
• trodden
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• tread
  simple
• treads
  simple
• have trod
  perfect
• have trodden
  perfect
• has trod
  perfect
• has trodden
  perfect
• am treading
  progressive
• are treading
  progressive
• is treading
  progressive
• have been treading
  perfect progressive
• has been treading
  perfect progressive

Past

• trod
  simple
• had trod
  perfect
• had trodden
  perfect
• was treading
  progressive
• were treading
  progressive
• had been treading
  perfect progressive

Future

• will tread
  simple
• will have trod
  perfect
• will have trodden
  perfect
• will be treading
  progressive
• will have been treading
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

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.

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Explanation

When you tread on the earth, you walk on it. The next time your pal thinks you have it too easy, you might ask him, “Why don’t you tread in my shoes for a day?” Tread usually implies stepping with force, but it can also simply mean placing your feet, one after the other, on the ground. You might try to tread lightly on the moss in the backyard so you don't damage it. Tread is also a noun that means the mark that a tire leaves on the ground, or the actual grooves on the tire. You might be relieved that the tread marks at the crime scene didn't match your brother's truck after all.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tread treads trod trodden treading

"We have to tread quite a careful line sometimes between government policy and the King's role."

From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026

“Everyone around the primary grievers need to tread lightly,” she notes.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026

I could locate no source for the middle mystery, but its theatrical setting is a favorite of such series; any that last long enough will eventually tread those boards.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

Earlier this year, one Iranian restaurant in Kuwait City dropped the words "Iranian cuisine" from its title -- a visible manifestation of the precarious line Iranians must now tread.

From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026

Ronan stands on the side wall of Henry’s boat, looking out at me as I tread water.

From "Shouting at the Rain" by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Her creations include recycled car tires—symbols of the capital’s traffic-clogged modern life—with sides and treads imprinted with gilded Aztec symbols, including the flying feathered serpent-god Quetzalcoatl.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

"A SnoCat team was also launched," the sheriff said, referring to the vehicles that use treads to move in the snow, and are more commonly found grooming snow at ski resorts.

From BBC ● Feb. 17, 2026

Instead of tech stocks rising broadly, you might see chip-maker stocks start to heat up, or perhaps gold stocks may outperform while the broader commodities sector treads water.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 4, 2026

The parade this Saturday is said to cost $45 million, not counting the expense of disrupting much of the city for four days and repairing the damage done by tank treads.

From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2025

He watches as she ascends quickly up the stoop with her shopping bags, her heels suspended over the treads in a way that looks precarious.

From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri

Men who nonetheless trod parallel paths in their admiration for one another and—most of all—their absolute adoration of the medium of paint itself.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026

The actor, who hailed from the northern English region of Yorkshire, trod the boards in Britain with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre in London, and worked on British television.

From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2026

Sheinbaum has trod carefully in her gradual effort to rebuild bilateral relations.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2026

Katherine Mansfield could write wonderful lines such as: “The men walked like scissors; the women trod like cats.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026

How long had it been since any creature trod this silent musty passage?

From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques

She received the offer of a summer job at the 1,200-lawyer firm in December, putting her solidly on the path many others have trodden to a lucrative and stable career.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026

But when he joined the Reds in 2017, he was all too aware of the legacy of some great Scots who had trodden the same path before him.

From BBC ● May 23, 2026

“We’ll likely follow the same path we’ve trodden in the United States, and so it will begin with a commercial footprint.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026

Seoul has long trodden a fine line between top trading partner China and defence guarantor the United States.

From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2025

But he had never trodden on them and she had not died.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan

So you’d be more or less treading water between your returns and inflation with your money stashed in cash equivalents.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 28, 2026

But still, “the spirits are guiding Yamel, helping her make sense of the world, because she’s treading in patterns that have been playing out for centuries.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2026

He spent two years operating the dozer in the landfill, where treading uneven ground can be physically punishing work.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026

The American collegiate system is a popular route for British players, with Cameron Norrie and Jacob Fearnley also treading that path.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

Ifemelu watched him, and the other people around them, all glowing with a strange phosphorescence, all treading a single line of unbroken emotion.

From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

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Related Words

• squash
• step on
• trample

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