Definition of Tread

1. Noun. A step in walking or running.

Exact synonyms: Pace, Stride
Group relationships: Walk, Walking
Generic synonyms: Step
Derivative terms: Pace, Pace, Pace, Stride, Stride

2. Verb. Put down or press the foot, place the foot. "Step on the brake"
Exact synonyms: Step
Generic synonyms: Go, Locomote, Move, Travel
Specialized synonyms: Step On, Tread On
Derivative terms: Step, Step, Step

3. Noun. The grooved surface of a pneumatic tire.
Group relationships: Pneumatic Tire, Pneumatic Tyre
Generic synonyms: Surface

4. Verb. Tread or stomp heavily or roughly. "The children tread to the playground"; "The soldiers trampled across the fields"
Exact synonyms: Trample
Generic synonyms: Walk
Specialized synonyms: Treadle
Derivative terms: Trample, Trampler, Trampling

5. Noun. The part (as of a wheel or shoe) that makes contact with the ground.
Generic synonyms: Contact, Tangency

6. Verb. Crush as if by treading on. "Tread grapes to make wine"
Generic synonyms: Crush, Mash, Squash, Squeeze, Squelch

7. Noun. Structural member consisting of the horizontal part of a stair or step.
Group relationships: Stair, Step
Generic synonyms: Structural Member

8. Verb. Brace (an archer's bow) by pressing the foot against the center.
Generic synonyms: Brace

9. Verb. Apply (the tread) to a tire.
Generic synonyms: Apply, Give

10. Verb. Mate with. "Male birds tread the females"
Generic synonyms: Copulate, Couple, Mate, Pair

Definition of Tread

1. v. i. To set the foot; to step.

2. v. t. To step or walk on.

3. n. A step or stepping; pressure with the foot; a footstep; as, a nimble tread; a cautious tread.

Definition of Tread

1. Noun. The grooves carved into the face of a tire, used to give the tire traction. ¹

2. Noun. The grooves on the bottom of a shoe or other footwear, used to give grip or traction. ¹

3. Noun. The horizontal part of a step in a flight of stairs ¹

4. Noun. The sound made when someone or something is walking. ¹

5. Verb. (intransitive) To step or walk (on or over something); to trample. ¹

6. Verb. (past of tread) ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Tread

1. to walk on, over, or along [v TROD, TRODE, or TREADED, TRODDEN, TREADING, TREADS]

Medical Definition of Tread

1. 1. To set the foot; to step. "Where'er you tread, the blushing flowers shall rise." (Pope) "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread." (Pope) "The hard stone Under our feet, on which we tread and go." (Chaucer) 2. To walk or go; especially, to walk with a stately or a cautious step. "Ye that . . . Stately tread, or lowly creep." (Milton) 3. To copulate; said of birds, especially. The males. To tread on or upon. To trample; to set the foot on in contempt. "Thou shalt tread upon their high places." . To follow closely. "Year treads on year." . To tread upon the heels of, to follow close upon. "Dreadful consequences that tread upon the heels of those allowances to sin." "One woe doth tread upon another's heel." (Shak) Origin: OE. Treden, AS. Tredan; akin to OFries. Treda, OS. Tredan, D. & LG. Treden, G. Treten, OHG. Tretan, Icel. Troa, Sw. Trada, trada, Dan. Traede, Goth. Trudan, and perhaps ultimately to F. Tramp; cf. Gr. A running, Skr. Dram to run. Cf. Trade, Tramp, Trot. 1. To step or walk on. "Forbid to tread the promised land he saw." (Prior) "Methought she trod the ground with greater grace." (Dryden) 2. To beat or press with the feet; as, to tread a path; to tread land when too light; a well-trodden path. 3. To go through or accomplish by walking, dancing, or the like. " I am resolved to forsake Malta, tread a pilgrimage to fair Jerusalem." "They have measured many a mile, To tread a measure with you on this grass." (Shak) 4. To crush under the foot; to trample in contempt or hatred; to subdue. "Through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us." (Ps. Xliv. 5) 5. To copulate with; to feather; to cover; said of the male bird. To tread out, to press out with the feet; to press out, as wine or wheat; as, to tread out grain with cattle or horses. To tread the stage, to act as a stageplayer; to perform a part in a drama. 1. A step or stepping; pressure with the foot; a footstep; as, a nimble tread; a cautious tread. "She is coming, my own, my sweet; Were it ever so airy a tread, My heart would hear her and beat." (Tennyson) 2. Manner or style of stepping; action; gait; as, the horse has a good tread. 3. Way; track; path. 4. The act of copulation in birds. 5. The upper horizontal part of a step, on which the foot is placed. 6. The top of the banquette, on which soldiers stand to fire over the parapet. 7. The part of a wheel that bears upon the road or rail. The part of a rail upon which car wheels bear. 8. The chalaza of a bird's egg; the treadle. 9. A bruise or abrasion produced on the foot or ankle of a horse that interferes. See Interfere. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Tread

treacheries
treacherous
treacherously
treacherousness
treachers
treachery
treacle paper
treacled
treacles
treaclier
treacliest
treacliness
treacling
treacly
tread (current term)
tread-softly
tread-wheel
tread down
tread lightly
tread on
tread water
treadboard
treadboards
treaded
treaded water
treader
treaders
treadeth
treading

Literary usage of Tread

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. A Dictionary of the English Language: In which the Words are Deduced from ...by Samuel Johnson by Samuel Johnson (1805)
"When shepherds pipe on oaten straws; When turtles tread. ... To tread, va He dy'd obedient to severest law ; Forbid to triad the promis'd land he saw. ..."

2. A Dictionary of Architecture and Building, Biographical, Historical, and edited by Russell Sturgis (1901)
"Another rule gives the quotient of tread and riser as between 70 and 75 inches. In Great Britain this quotient is commonly prescribed as 66 inches, ..."

3. The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction by Reuben Percy, John Timbs (1823)
"THE tread-Mill at Brixton, that " terror to evil-doers," has excited so lunch attention, that the Proprietors of THE MIRROR think a correct view and ..."

4. The Modern Gasoline Automobile: Its Design, Construction, Maintenance and by Victor Wilfred Pagé (1915)
"A round-tread tire will wear off until the breaker strips are exposed, and the tire should be retreaded as soon as this condition is apparent. ..."

5. Publications by English Dialect Society (1875)
"... tread; Gael, calc, to ram, drive. The Mid. ... to tread,occurs in Piers Plowman, xi., 1. 350; and B-text, xii., 1. 229. ..."

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