treadle
Americannoun
-
a lever or the like worked by continual action of the foot to impart motion to a machine.
-
a platform, as on a bus or trolleycar, for opening an exit door.
verb (used without object)
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of treadle
before 1000; Middle English tredel stairstep, Old English. See tread, -le
Vocabulary lists containing treadle
The Industrial Revolution - Introductory
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The Industrial Revolution - Middle School and High School
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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.
In college, I found a treadle machine in an empty dorm room, oiled it and made a blouse and quilt.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 2, 2026
The beavers were captured using four large traps, which shut behind the animals when they step on a treadle inside.
From BBC • Mar. 12, 2026
If you have room, there are treadle feeders that are rat resistant you can use in the coop.
From Salon • Nov. 26, 2022
Imitating the English, whose male weaving guilds had produced fine cloths on foot-powered treadle looms since the 1300s, the Danes trained North Atlantic men to weave on these faster looms.
From Scientific American • Sep. 15, 2022
The miller cast his gaze on me, and I quickened my foot on the treadle.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
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.
