Tread word meaning and definition

[noun] a step in walking or running
[noun] structural member consisting of the horizontal part of a stair or step
[noun] the part (as of a wheel or shoe) that makes contact with the ground
[verb] brace (an archer's bow) by pressing the foot against the center
[verb] mate with, of male birds
[verb] crush as if by treading on, as of grapes
[verb] tread or stomp heavily or roughly; "The soldiers trampled across the fields"
[verb] put down the foot, place the foot; "For fools rush in where angels fear to tread"
[verb] apply (the tread) to a tire

\Tread\, v. i. [imp. {Trod}; p. p. {Trodden}, {Trod}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Treading}.] [OE. treden, AS. tredan; akin to OFries. treda, OS. tredan, D. & LG. treden, G. treten, OHG. tretan, Icel. tro?a, Sw. tr[*a]da, tr["a]da, Dan. tr[ae]de, Goth. trudan, and perhaps ultimately to F. tramp; cf. Gr. ? a running, Skr. dram to run. Cf. {Trade}, {Tramp}, {Trot}.] 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, esp. the males. --Shak. {To tread on} or {upon}.
(a) To trample; to set the foot on in contempt. ``Thou shalt tread upon their high places.'' --Deut. xxxiii. 29.
(b) to follow closely. ``Year treads on year.'' --Wordsworth. {To tread upon the heels of}, to follow close upon. ``Dreadful consequences that tread upon the heels of those allowances to sin.'' --Milton. One woe doth tread upon another's heel. --Shak.
\Tread\, v. t. 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.'' --Beau. & Fl. 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. --Chaucer. {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.
\Tread\, n. 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. [R.] --Shak. 4. The act of copulation in birds. 5. (Arch.) The upper horizontal part of a step, on which the foot is placed. 6. (Fort.) The top of the banquette, on which soldiers stand to fire over the parapet. 7. (Mach.)
(a) The part of a wheel that bears upon the road or rail.
(b) The part of a rail upon which car wheels bear. 8. (Biol.) The chalaza of a bird's egg; the treadle. 9. (Far.) A bruise or abrasion produced on the foot or ankle of a horse that interferes. See {Interfere}, 3.

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