tread
tread Lexical Profile
tread Game Scores & Validity
• noun
The thick molded part of a vehicle tire or the sole of a shoe that grips the road or ground.
"The mechanic warned that the tire tread was worn down to a dangerous level."
A person's manner of walking or the sound made by footsteps.
"We heard his heavy tread on the hallway floorboards long before he reached the door."
The horizontal upper surface of a step in a staircase, on which the foot is placed.
"The carpenter replaced the cracked oak tread near the bottom of the stairs."
• verb
To walk in a specified way or set one's foot down on or across a surface.
"Please tread carefully on the wet cobblestones so you do not slip."
To press down or crush something with the feet.
"In traditional winemaking, workers used to tread the harvested grapes in large wooden vats."
Word Nuance & Usage
When referring to walking or stepping, the standard past tense is 'trod' and the past participle is 'trodden' (or 'trod'); however, in the sense of applying a new outer surface to a tire or shoe, the regular form 'treaded' is used.
• Rhymes for tread
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
From Old English 'tredan', of West Germanic origin and related to Dutch 'treden' and German 'treten', meaning to step or walk.