What does "tread" mean?
A step taken with the foot.
Tread
/tɹɛd/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A step taken with the foot.
- Grammar: tread is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: stride, amble, ambulate, amount.
- Useful contrasts: untrod, gallops, gambol.
- Usage evidence: Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
How to use "tread"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "tread" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "tread" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "tread" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "tread" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "tread" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "stride" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "tread", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A step taken with the foot.
- 2 a step in walking or running wordnet
- 3 A manner of stepping.
"She is coming, my own, my sweet; / Were it ever so airy a tread, / My heart would hear her and beat."
- 4 structural member consisting of the horizontal part of a stair or step wordnet
- 5 The sound made when someone or something is walking.
"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."
Show 10 more definitions
- 6 the part (as of a wheel or shoe) that makes contact with the ground wordnet
- 7 A way; a track or path. obsolete
"And the queint Mazes in the wanton greene, For lacke of tread are vndistinguishable."
- 8 the grooved surface of a pneumatic tire wordnet
- 9 A walking surface in a stairway on which the foot is placed.
"The dog was waiting for him, her paws on the second tread, pere regardant with a happy lolling tongue."
- 10 The grooves carved into the face of a tire, used to give the tire traction.
- 11 The grooves on the bottom of a shoe or other footwear, used to give grip or traction.
- 12 The chalaza of a bird's egg; the treadle.
- 13 The act of avian copulation in which the male bird mounts the female by standing on her back.
- 14 The top of the banquette, on which soldiers stand to fire over the parapet.
- 15 A bruise or abrasion produced on the foot or ankle of a horse that interferes, or strikes its feet together.
Verb
- 1 To step or walk (on or across something); to trample. intransitive
"He trod back and forth wearily."
- 2 brace (an archer's bow) by pressing the foot against the center wordnet
- 3 To step or walk upon. transitive
"Actors tread the boards."
- 4 mate with (used of male birds) wordnet
- 5 To proceed, to behave (in a certain manner). figuratively
"to tread lightly, to tread gently"
Show 11 more definitions
- 6 crush as if by treading on wordnet
- 7 To beat or press with the feet.
"to tread a path; to tread land when too light; a well-trodden path"
- 8 tread or stomp heavily or roughly wordnet
- 9 To work a lever, treadle, etc., with the foot or the feet.
"Round about them was a circle of girls and wives of the neighbouring tenants; "they trod the spinning-wheels with diligent feet, or were using the scraping carding-combs," as an author has it."
- 10 put down or press the foot, place the foot wordnet
- 11 To go through or accomplish by walking, dancing, etc.
"I am resolved to forsake Malta, tread a pilgrimage to fair Jerusalem."
- 12 apply (the tread) to a tire wordnet
- 13 To crush under the foot; to trample in contempt or hatred; to subdue; to repress.
"Through thee will we push down our enemies: through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us."
- 14 To copulate; said of (especially male) birds. intransitive
"When Turtles tread, and Rookes and Dawes, And Maidens bleach their summer smockes:"
- 15 To copulate with (a hen). transitive
"But if a child sees a cockerel tread a hen, or two dogs coupling, well and good. It should see these things."
- 16 To crush grapes with one's feet to make wine transitive
Antonyms
Example
"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "tread"?
Common synonyms include: stride, amble, ambulate, amount, animal like movement, ankle.
How do you use "tread" in a sentence?
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
How do you pronounce "tread"?
Pronounced /tɹɛd/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English treden, from Old English tredan, from Proto-West Germanic *tredan, from Proto-Germanic *trudaną.
Etymology 2
From Middle English tred, from treden (“to tread”).