tread
Americanverb (used without object)
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to set down the foot or feet in walking; step; walk.
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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.
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(of a male bird) to copulate.
verb (used with object)
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to step or walk on, about, in, or along.
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to trample or crush underfoot.
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to form by the action of walking or trampling.
to tread a path.
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to treat with disdainful harshness or cruelty; crush; oppress.
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to perform by walking or dancing.
to tread a measure.
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(of a male bird) to copulate with (a female bird).
noun
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the action of treading, stepping, or walking.
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the sound of footsteps.
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manner of treading or walking.
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a single step as in walking.
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any of various things or parts on which a person or thing treads, stands, or moves.
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the part of the under surface of the foot or of a shoe that touches the ground.
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the horizontal upper surface of a step in a stair, on which the foot is placed.
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the part of a wheel, tire, or runner that bears on the road, rail, etc.
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the pattern raised on or cut into the face of a rubber tire.
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Also caterpillar tread a metal tread on which a Caterpillar-style vehicle moves.
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Railroads. that part of a rail in contact with the treads of wheels.
idioms
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tread the boards, to act on the stage, especially professionally.
He recalled the days when he had trod the boards.
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tread water,
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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.
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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.
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tread lightly / carefully / softly. see tread lightly.
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tread on someone's toes / corns, to offend or irritate someone.
verb
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to walk or trample in, on, over, or across (something)
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to crush or squash by or as if by treading
to tread grapes
to tread on a spider
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to subdue or repress, as by doing injury (to)
to tread on one's inferiors
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(tr) to do by walking or dancing
to tread a measure
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(tr) (of a male bird) to copulate with (a female bird)
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to proceed with delicacy or tact
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to offend or insult someone, esp by infringing on his sphere of action, etc
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to stay afloat in an upright position by moving the legs in a walking motion
noun
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a manner or style of walking, dancing, etc
a light tread
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the act of treading
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the top surface of a step in a staircase
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the outer part of a tyre or wheel that makes contact with the road, esp the grooved surface of a pneumatic tyre
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the part of a rail that wheels touch
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the part of a shoe that is generally in contact with the ground
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vet science an injury to a horse's foot caused by the opposite foot, or the foot of another horse
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a rare word for footprint
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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treadsimple
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treadssimple
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have trodperfect
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have troddenperfect
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has trodperfect
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has troddenperfect
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am treadingprogressive
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are treadingprogressive
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is treadingprogressive
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have been treadingperfect progressive
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has been treadingperfect progressive
Past
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trodsimple
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had trodperfect
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had troddenperfect
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was treadingprogressive
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were treadingprogressive
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had been treadingperfect progressive
Future
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.
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.
Vocabulary lists containing tread
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act I
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Christmas Carol Vocab: A Lyrical Lexicon
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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:
That metric is currently signaling that investors should tread carefully, Opsal said in a phone interview Monday.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
Starmer promised a politics that “would tread more lightly on voters’ lives” and would be guided by moderate policies aimed at fine-tuning the state rather than overhauling it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
"We've been encouraged to reduce all the time by fencing cattle away from riverbanks, so they don't tread the banks and defecate in the river," said Henry Collins, of the Wylye Valley Farmers.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026
Until a definitive end to the conflict emerges, Bitcoin is likely to tread water.
From Barron's ● Apr. 15, 2026
He would both scare off prey and endanger me with his heavy tread.
From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
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 product has recently been used in large window frames and also to make kitchen cabinets, furniture and the treads of internal staircases.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2025
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
I didn’t ever set out to be like the writer that treads in grief, but here I am.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 13, 2024
It moved on tank treads and had what looked like a shopping cart attached to its front.
From "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library" by Chris Grabenstein
Sheinbaum has trod carefully in her gradual effort to rebuild bilateral relations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2026
In the Himalayan republic of some 30 million people, overshadowed by giant neighbours India and China, Oli previously trod a fine balance between the rivals.
From Barron's ● Feb. 16, 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
Asian markets trod water Thursday as euphoria over the end of a record US government shutdown petered, with focus back on Federal Reserve interest rates and tech bubble worries.
From Barron's ● Nov. 13, 2025
Harry got to his feet, trod on the hem of his robes, and stumbled slightly.
From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling
“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
If he moved to Radio 2, this would follow a well-worn path previously trodden by Chris Evans and Zoe Ball, who hosted its breakfast show having previously done the same for Radio 1.
From BBC ● Mar. 31, 2026
Seoul has for decades trodden a fine line between China, its top trading partner, and the United States, its chief defence guarantor.
From Barron's ● Jan. 4, 2026
This pathway is now so well trodden as to have become a trope: the male feminist who deeply, appallingly wasn’t.
From Slate ● Jan. 17, 2025
The king came down from the rise of trodden snow, and the two bears faced each other several yards apart.
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
UC officials say they are treading carefully, knowing their debate on testing could later be turned against the university.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
Juan Carlos Blain, the 41-year-old manager of several private groceries and fast food outlets in western Havana, said his company was treading water.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 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
“In this higher-rate environment, home price growth remains constrained, with housing largely treading water in nominal terms and falling in real terms,” said Nicholas Godec at S&P Dow Jones Indices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
I happened to be treading water at the bow.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
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.
