I. treat 1 S2 W1 /triːt/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ treat , ↑ treatment , ↑ mistreatment ; verb : ↑ treat , ↑ mistreat ; adjective : ↑ untreated , ↑ treatable ]
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: traitier , from Latin tractare ; ⇨ ↑ tractable ]
1 . BEHAVE TOWARDS SOMEBODY/SOMETHING [always + adverb/preposition] to behave towards someone or something in a particular way ⇨ treatment
treat somebody like/as something
She treats me like one of the family.
Penny doesn’t think her co-workers treat her as an equal.
He treated his automobiles almost as tenderly as he did his wife.
badly treated/well treated
The prisoners were well treated by their guards.
treat somebody with respect/contempt/courtesy etc
Despite her seniority, Margot was never treated with much respect.
treat somebody like dirt/a dog (=treat someone unkindly and without respect)
I don’t know why he stays with her – she treats him like dirt.
2 . DEAL WITH SOMETHING [always + adverb/preposition] to deal with, regard, or consider something in a particular way ⇨ treatment
treat something as something
Please treat this information as completely confidential.
She treats everything I say as a joke.
treat something favourably/seriously/carefully etc
Any complaint about safety standards must be treated very seriously.
3 . ILLNESS/INJURY to try to cure an illness or injury by using drugs, hospital care, operations etc ⇨ treatment :
It was difficult to treat patients because of a shortage of medicine.
treat somebody/something with something
Nowadays, malaria can be treated with drugs.
4 . BUY SOMETHING FOR SOMEBODY to buy or do something special for someone that you know they will enjoy
treat somebody to something
We treated Mom to lunch at the Savoy.
I treated myself to a new dress.
5 . PROTECT/CLEAN to put a special substance on something or use a chemical process in order to protect, clean, or preserve it ⇨ treatment :
sewage treated so that it can be used as fertilizer
⇨ ↑ trick or treat
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COLLOCATIONS
■ adverbs
▪ well
The majority of workers are well treated.
▪ badly
Why did he treat me so badly?
▪ fairly/unfairly
I just want to be treated fairly.
▪ equally
All people should be treated equally, whatever their age.
▪ differently
Should girls be treated differently from boys in school?
▪ harshly
The guards treated the prisoners harshly.
▪ kindly
The world had not treated him kindly.
■ phrases
▪ treat somebody with respect/contempt/suspicion etc
When you treat the kids with respect, they act responsibly.
▪ treat somebody like dirt informal (=very badly and with no respect)
He treated this wife like dirt.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ behave to do and say things that are good, bad, normal, strange etc:
His teacher said he’d been behaving badly at school.
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I’m not going to talk to her until she starts behaving reasonably.
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Oh, be quiet! You’re behaving like a two-year-old.
▪ act to behave in a particular way, especially in a way that seems unusual, surprising, or annoying to other people:
Tina’s been acting very strangely lately.
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What makes grown people act like that?
▪ treat to behave towards someone or deal with someone in a particular way:
She said that he’d treated her really badly throughout their two-year marriage.
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I’m sick of my parents treating me like a child.
▪ conform to behave in the way that most other people in your group or society behave:
Young people sometimes want to rebel and therefore they refuse to conform.
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Society typically brings pressure on individuals and groups to conform to civilised norms.
▪ conduct yourself formal to behave in a particular way, especially in a situation where people will notice and judge the way you behave:
Public figures have a duty to conduct themselves responsibly, even in their private lives.
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By the end of the course, you should be able to conduct yourself with confidence in any meeting.
II. treat 2 S3 BrE AmE noun
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ treat , ↑ treatment , ↑ mistreatment ; verb : ↑ treat , ↑ mistreat ; adjective : ↑ untreated , ↑ treatable ]
1 . [countable] something special that you give someone or do for them because you know they will enjoy it
as a treat
Steven took his son to a cricket match as a birthday treat.
2 . [singular] an event that gives you a lot of pleasure and is usually unexpected:
When we were kids, a trip to the beach was a real treat.
3 . [countable] a special food that tastes good, especially one that you do not eat very often:
The cafe serves an assortment of gourmet treats.
4 . my treat spoken used to tell someone that you will pay for something such as a meal for them:
Let’s go out to lunch – my treat.
5 . go down a treat British English informal if something goes down a treat, people like it very much:
That new vegetarian restaurant seems to be going down a treat.
6 . look/work a treat British English informal to look very good or work very well:
The sports ground looked a treat, with all the flags flying.