[syn: tread, trample]
3. crush as if by treading on;
- Example: "tread grapes to make wine"
4. brace (an archer's bow) by pressing the foot against the center;
5. apply (the tread) to a tire;
6. mate with;
- Example: "male birds tread the females"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Tread \Tread\, v. t.
1. To step or walk on.
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Forbid to tread the promised land he saw. --Prior.
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Methought she trod the ground with greater grace.
--Dryden.
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2. To beat or press with the feet; as, to tread a path; to
tread land when too light; a well-trodden path.
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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.
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They have measured many a mile,
To tread a measure with you on this grass. --Shak.
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4. To crush under the foot; to trample in contempt or hatred;
to subdue.
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Through thy name will we tread them under that rise
up against us. --Ps. xliv. 5.
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5. To copulate with; to feather; to cover; -- said of the
male bird. --Chaucer.
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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.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Tread \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[aum]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.
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Where'er you tread, the blushing flowers shall rise.
--Pope.
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Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. --Pope.
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The hard stone
Under our feet, on which we tread and go. --Chaucer.
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2. To walk or go; especially, to walk with a stately or a
cautious step.
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Ye that . . . stately tread, or lowly creep.
--Milton.
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3. To copulate; said of birds, esp. the males. --Shak.
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To tread on or To tread 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.
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One woe doth tread upon another's heel. --Shak.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Tread \Tread\, n.
1. A step or stepping; pressure with the foot; a footstep;
as, a nimble tread; a cautious tread.
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She is coming, my own, my sweet;
Were it ever so airy a tread,
My heart would hear her and beat. --Tennyson.
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2. Manner or style of stepping; action; gait; as, the horse
has a good tread.
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3. Way; track; path. [R.] --Shak.
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4. The act of copulation in birds.
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5. (Arch.) The upper horizontal part of a step, on which the
foot is placed.
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6. (Fort.) The top of the banquette, on which soldiers stand
to fire over the parapet.
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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.
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8. (Biol.) The chalaza of a bird's egg; the treadle.
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9. (Far.) A bruise or abrasion produced on the foot or ankle
of a horse that interferes. See Interfere, 3.
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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
tread
n 1: a step in walking or running [syn: pace, stride,
tread]
2: the grooved surface of a pneumatic tire
3: the part (as of a wheel or shoe) that makes contact with the
ground
4: structural member consisting of the horizontal part of a
stair or step
v 1: put down or press the foot, place the foot; "For fools rush
in where angels fear to tread"; "step on the brake" [syn:
step, tread]
2: tread or stomp heavily or roughly; "The soldiers trampled
across the fields" [syn: tread, trample]
3: crush as if by treading on; "tread grapes to make wine"
4: brace (an archer's bow) by pressing the foot against the
center
5: apply (the tread) to a tire
6: mate with; "male birds tread the females"
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
133 Moby Thesaurus words for "tread":
amble, ambulate, amount, ankle, caliber, career, circumambulate,
clip, clop, clump, compass, cut, degree, doorstep, drag, droop,
drub, extent, flounce, foot, foot it, footfall, footrest, footstep,
gait, gallop, grade, height, hippety-hop, hitch, hobble, hoof,
hoof it, hoofbeat, hop, interval, jaywalk, jog, jog on, jump, leap,
leg, leg it, level, lick, limp, lock step, lurch, march, mark,
measure, mince, mincing steps, notch, nuance, pace, pad, paddle,
pas, pedestrianize, peg, perambulate, period, peripateticate,
piaffer, pitch, plane, plateau, point, prance, progress,
proportion, rack, range, rate, ratio, reach, remove, rest, riser,
roll, round, rundle, rung, saunter, scale, scope, scuttle, shade,
shadow, shamble, shuffle, shuffle along, sidle, single-foot, skip,
slink, slither, slouch, slowness, space, spoke, stagger, stair,
stalk, stamp, standard, stave, step, step stool, stepping-stone,
stint, stomp, stride, string, stroll, strolling gait, strut,
stump it, swagger, swing, toddle, totter, trace, track, traipse,
trample, travel, troop, trot, velocity, waddle, walk