I. tread 1 /tred/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense trod /trɒd $ trɑːd/, past participle trodden /ˈtrɒdn $ ˈtrɑːdn/)
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: tredan ]
1 . STEP IN/ON [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] British English to put your foot on or in something while you are walking SYN step
tread in/on
Sorry, did I tread on your foot?
She trod barefoot on the soft grass.
2 . tread carefully/warily/cautiously etc to be very careful about what you say or do in a difficult situation:
If I wanted to keep my job, I knew I’d have to tread lightly.
3 . CRUSH
a) [transitive] British English to press or crush something into the floor or ground with your feet SYN track American English
tread something into/onto/over something
Stop treading mud all over my clean kitchen floor!
Bits of the broken vase got trodden into the carpet.
b) tread grapes to crush ↑ grape s with your feet in order to produce juice for making wine
4 . tread a path British English written to take a particular action or series of actions:
Getting the right balance between home and work is a difficult path to tread.
5 . tread water ( past tense and past participle treaded )
a) to stay floating upright in deep water by moving your legs as if you are riding a bicycle
b) to make no progress in a particular situation, especially because you are waiting for something to happen:
All I could do was tread water until the contracts arrived.
6 . WALK [intransitive, transitive always + adverb/preposition] literary to walk:
David trod wearily along behind the others.
7 . tread the boards humorous to work as an actor
⇨ tread on sb’s toes at ↑ toe 1 (3)
II. tread 2 BrE AmE noun
1 . [uncountable and countable] the pattern of lines on the part of a tyre that touches the road
2 . [countable] the part of a stair that you put your foot on
3 . [singular] literary the particular sound that someone makes when they walk:
I heard the back door bang, and Rex’s tread in the hall.