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View synonyms for treat

treat

[ treet ]

verb (used with object)

  1. to act or behave toward (a person) in some specified way:

    to treat someone with respect.

  2. to consider or regard in a specified way, and deal with accordingly:

    to treat a matter as unimportant.

  3. to deal with (a disease, patient, etc.) in order to relieve or cure.
  4. to deal with in speech or writing; discuss.
  5. to deal with, develop, or represent artistically, especially in some specified manner or style:

    to treat a theme realistically.

  6. to subject to some agent or action in order to bring about a particular result:

    to treat a substance with an acid.

  7. to entertain; give hospitality to:

    He treats diplomats in the lavish surroundings of his country estate.

  8. to provide food, entertainment, gifts, etc., at one's own expense:

    Let me treat you to dinner.



verb (used without object)

  1. to deal with a subject in speech or writing; discourse:

    a work that treats of the caste system in India.

  2. to give, or bear the expense of, a treat:

    Is it my turn to treat?

  3. to carry on negotiations with a view to a settlement; discuss terms of settlement; negotiate.

noun

  1. entertainment, food, drink, etc., given by way of compliment or as an expression of friendly regard.
  2. anything that affords particular pleasure or enjoyment.
  3. the act of treating.
  4. one's turn to treat.

treat

/ triːt /

noun

  1. a celebration, entertainment, gift, or feast given for or to someone and paid for by another
  2. any delightful surprise or specially pleasant occasion
  3. the act of treating
“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


verb

  1. tr to deal with or regard in a certain manner

    she treats school as a joke

  2. tr to apply treatment to

    to treat a patient for malaria

  3. tr to subject to a process or to the application of a substance

    to treat photographic film with developer

  4. tr; often foll by to to provide (someone) (with) as a treat

    he treated the children to a trip to the zoo

  5. formal.
    intrusually foll byof to deal (with), as in writing or speaking
  6. formal.
    intr to discuss settlement; negotiate
“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
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Derived Forms

  • ˈtreatable, adjective
  • ˈtreater, noun
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Other Words From

  • treater noun
  • non·treated adjective
  • over·treat verb
  • self-treated adjective
  • un·treated adjective
  • well-treated adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of treat1

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English verb treten, from Old French tretier, traitier, from Latin tractāre “to drag, handle, treat,” frequentative of trahere “to drag”; tract 1
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Word History and Origins

Origin of treat1

C13: from Old French tretier , from Latin tractāre to manage, from trahere to drag
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Idioms and Phrases

In addition to the idiom beginning with treat , also see Dutch treat ; trick or treat .
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Example Sentences

Those treats ended up in the trunk of her car until she found them days later, smashed, and threw them away.

Messy, sticky, warm and sweet, s’mores are a treat that needs no recipe.

You can use this powder in shakes or consider it a substitute for flour the next time you want to bake a sweet treat, like cookies.

Coffee and treats make up about half of the orders, but people are also using Manna to avoid making quick trips to the grocery store or when they don’t want to wait on Amazon.

From Fortune

Barkbox brings ’em a constant rotation of treats and toys, all tailored around each month’s theme, like “Dogsgiving” in November or “Lick or Treat” back in October.

Almost everyone there will be a decent person and treat you well.

Yazbek tells The Daily Beast that the traffickers guarantee their service, and they treat the Syrian refugees with respect.

When ‘Downton Abbey’ returns Sunday night, its fashion fans are in for a familiar treat.

This is Bey and Nicki at their most lyrically masochistic, and boy, is it a treat.

Koenig apologies for what she seems to treat as a sign of weakness.

There is still a general tendency in universities on both sides of the Atlantic to treat propaganda as infection.

Not only are they required to do things in a proper orderly manner, but people have to treat them with due deference.

Rather blow out your own brains than treat with enmity those who are your liberators.

You could use some force to prevent him, you could not kill him, or put out his eyes, or treat him roughly.

A car conductor is instructed to treat passengers civilly and to use no harsh means with them, save in extreme cases.

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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.

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