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tread - What does it mean?

Definition of 'tread'

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) treden, from (etyl) {{term|tredan||to tread, step on, trample, traverse, pass over, enter upon, roam through |lang=ang}}, from (etyl) , Norwegian treda.

Verb

  • To step or walk (on or over something); to trample.
    • He trod back and forth wearily.
    Don't tread on the lawn.
  • * Alexander Pope
    • Fools rush in where angels fear to tread .
  • * Milton
    • ye that stately tread , or lowly creep
  • To step or walk upon.
    • Actors tread the boards.
  • To beat or press with the feet.
    • to tread''' a path; to '''tread''' land when too light; a well-'''trodden path
  • To go through or accomplish by walking, dancing, etc.
  • * Beaumont and Fletcher
    • I am resolved to forsake Malta, tread a pilgrimage to fair Jerusalem.
  • * Shakespeare
    • They have measured many a mile, / To tread a measure with you on this grass.
  • To crush under the foot; to trample in contempt or hatred; to subdue.
  • * Bible, Psalms xliv. 5
    • Through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us.
  • To copulate; said of (especially male) birds.
    • (Shakespeare)
  • (of a male bird) To copulate with.
    • (Chaucer)
  • (tread)
    • Usage notes
    * "(term)" is not commonly used in the UK and is less common in the US as well. It is apparently used more often in (tread water). * (term) is sometimes used as a past and past participle, especially in the US.
    Derived terms
    * betread * * tread water * untrod * treading on eggshells Use of expression in delicate situations; be nice

    Etymology 2

    From the above verb.

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • A step.
  • A manner of stepping.
  • * Tennyson
    • She is coming, my own, my sweet; / Were it ever so airy a tread , / My heart would hear her and beat.
  • (obsolete) A way; a track or path.
    • (Shakespeare)
  • The grooves carved into the face of a tire, used to give the tire traction.
  • The grooves on the bottom of a shoe or other footwear, used to give grip or traction.
  • The horizontal part of a step in a flight of stairs.
  • The sound made when someone or something is walking.
  • * 1886 , (Robert Louis Stevenson), (Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde)
    • The steps fell lightly and oddly, with a certain swing, for all they went so slowly; it was different indeed from the heavy creaking tread of Henry Jekyll. Utterson sighed. "Is there never anything else?" he asked.
  • * 1896 , (Bret Harte), Barker's Luck and Other Stories
    • But when, after a singularly heavy tread and the jingle of spurs on the platform, the door flew open to the newcomer, he seemed a realization of our worst expectations.
  • (biology) The chalaza of a bird's egg; the treadle.
  • The act of copulation in birds.
  • (fortification) The top of the banquette, on which soldiers stand to fire over the parapet.
  • A bruise or abrasion produced on the foot or ankle of a horse that interferes, or strikes its feet together.
    • Synonyms
    * (horizontal part of a step) run
    Antonyms
    * (horizontal part of a step) rise, riser
    Derived terms
    *

    See also

    * (wikipedia)

    Anagrams

    *

    References

    Similar to 'tread'

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