/ tred; NAmE / verb , noun
■ verb ( trod / trɒd; NAmE trɑːd/ trod·den / ˈtrɒdn; NAmE ˈtrɑːdn/ or trod )
1.
[ v ] tread (on / in / over sth/sb) ( especially BrE ) to put your foot down while you are stepping or walking :
Ouch! You trod on my toe!
Careful you don't tread in that puddle.
2.
[ vn , usually + adv. / prep. ] to crush or press sth with your feet
SYN trample :
Don't tread ash into the carpet!
The wine is still made by treading grapes in the traditional way.
3.
( formal or literary ) to walk somewhere :
[ vn ]
Few people had trod this path before.
[ v ]
He was treading quietly and cautiously.
•
IDIOMS
- tread carefully, warily, etc.
- tread a difficult, dangerous, solitary, etc. path
- tread on sb's heels
- tread on sb's toes
- tread water
—more at line noun , tightrope
■ noun
1.
[ sing. ] the way that sb walks; the sound that sb makes when they walk :
I heard his heavy tread on the stairs.
2.
[ C , U ] the raised pattern on the surface of a tyre on a vehicle :
The tyres were worn below the legal limit of 1.6 mm of tread.
3.
[ C ] the upper surface of a step or stair
—picture at staircase
—compare riser
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English tredan (as a verb), of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch treden and German treten .