treadmill
Americannoun
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an apparatus for producing rotary motion by the weight of people or animals, treading on a succession of moving steps or a belt that forms a kind of continuous path, as around the periphery of a pair of horizontal cylinders.
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an exercise machine that allows the user to walk or run in place, usually on a continuous moving belt.
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any monotonous, wearisome routine in which there is little or no satisfactory progress.
noun
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Also called: treadwheel. (formerly) an apparatus used to produce rotation, in which the weight of men or animals climbing steps on or around the periphery of a cylinder or wheel caused it to turn
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a dreary round or routine
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an exercise machine that consists of a continuous moving belt on which to walk or jog
Etymology
Origin of treadmill
Explanation
A treadmill is an exercise machine for walking or running in place. If it's bitterly cold outside, you might decide to go to the gym and run on the treadmill instead of taking your usual outdoor jog. A treadmill was originally a type of human- or animal-powered machine. By walking on a wheel fitted with steps, a person (or animal) turned it, grinding grain in the process. Treadmills were also used as punishment in prisons where inmates were forced to work. Today the only treadmills you're likely to see are in a gym, but the word is commonly used in a figurative way for any relentless, boring job.
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.
Do you want to get off the production treadmill?
From The Wall Street Journal • May 25, 2026
During experiments, Betley and his team observed increased brain activity in mice after treadmill running.
From Science Daily • May 16, 2026
"We just need to also think about the bigger picture to stop more people heading on to this treadmill of obesity later in life."
From BBC • May 16, 2026
From my treadmill desk, I attend “Overwhelmed and Burnt Out,” also known as “Burnout Circle,” a 45-minute Zoom meeting led by a Good Inside counselor.
From Slate • May 10, 2026
Jule stepped off the treadmill to stretch her quads.
From "Genuine Fraud" by E. Lockhart
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.
