Library / English Dictionary

TREAD

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: trod    , trodden   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A step in walking or running

Synonyms:

pace; stride; tread

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("tread" is a kind of...):

step (the act of changing location by raising the foot and setting it down)

Holonyms ("tread" is a part of...):

walk; walking (the act of traveling by foot)

Derivation:

tread (put down or press the foot, place the foot)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Structural member consisting of the horizontal part of a stair or step

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("tread" is a kind of...):

structural member (support that is a constituent part of any structure or building)

Holonyms ("tread" is a part of...):

stair; step (support consisting of a place to rest the foot while ascending or descending a stairway)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The part (as of a wheel or shoe) that makes contact with the ground

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("tread" is a kind of...):

contact; tangency ((electronics) a junction where things (as two electrical conductors) touch or are in physical contact)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The grooved surface of a pneumatic tire

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("tread" is a kind of...):

surface (the outer boundary of an artifact or a material layer constituting or resembling such a boundary)

Holonyms ("tread" is a part of...):

pneumatic tire; pneumatic tyre (a tire made of reinforced rubber and filled with compressed air; used on motor vehicles and bicycles etc)

Derivation:

tread (apply (the tread) to a tire)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Brace (an archer's bow) by pressing the foot against the center

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "tread" is one way to...):

brace (support by bracing)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Mate with

Example:

male birds tread the females

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "tread" is one way to...):

copulate; couple; mate; pair (engage in sexual intercourse)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Sense 3

Meaning:

Crush as if by treading on

Example:

tread grapes to make wine

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "tread" is one way to...):

crush; mash; squash; squeeze; squelch (to compress with violence, out of natural shape or condition)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Tread or stomp heavily or roughly

Example:

The soldiers trampled across the fields

Synonyms:

trample; tread

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "tread" is one way to...):

walk (use one's feet to advance; advance by steps)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "tread"):

treadle (tread over)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

The children tread to the playground

Sense 5

Meaning:

Put down or press the foot, place the foot

Example:

step on the brake

Synonyms:

step; tread

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "tread" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "tread"):

step on; tread on (place or press the foot on)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

tread (a step in walking or running)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Apply (the tread) to a tire

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "tread" is one way to...):

apply; give (give or convey physically)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

tread (the grooved surface of a pneumatic tire)

Credits

 Context examples: 

In a place like this I'm sure to upset something, tread on people's toes, or do something dreadful, so I keep out of mischief and let Meg sail about.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

He entered strange ports of sun-washed lands, and trod market-places among barbaric peoples that no man had ever seen.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

If anyone treads on my toes or sticks a pin into me, it doesn't matter, for I can't feel it.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

Observing the same principle of widest distribution of weight, the dogs at the ends of their ropes radiated fan-fashion from the nose of the sled, so that no dog trod in another's footsteps.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Presently the landlady appeared with the tray, laid it down upon a chair beside the closed door, and then, treading heavily, departed.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It came—it was fine—and Catherine trod on air.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

That stupid horse, with his heavy hoofs, has been treading down my people without mercy!

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

I shall satiate my ardent curiosity with the sight of a part of the world never before visited, and may tread a land never before imprinted by the foot of man.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

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.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

But Jim swung the gate open, and up we went, the gravel squeaking beneath our tread.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)