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tread
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
tread
I.verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
carefully
▪ So she had to tread carefully.
▪ It is important, however, to tread carefully around the concept of core groups.
▪ They trod carefully away, shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip.
▪ Sadat now feels less restricted about what she can say, although she treads carefully around politics in her homeland.
▪ Evidence of the erosion is clear along the route and walkers should tread carefully.
▪ The press learned to tread carefully on the subject of their leaders' health during the Soviet era.
▪ Supervisors and personnel officers will be instructed to tread carefully when dealing with workers.
▪ It behooves companies to tread carefully in this area because even seemingly innocuous questions can get them into trouble.
cautiously
▪ She trod cautiously along the street.
▪ A White House document cautioned political appointees such as Herman to tread cautiously in their political work.
on
▪ She's a tough, single-minded lady who hasn't achieved her present position without treading on more than a few toes.
▪ Clinton trod on to murky terrain.
▪ If you hadn't been a doormat you wouldn't have been trodden on - that's what doormats are for.
▪ The attitude they have towards you is terrible, like you're lower than the dirt they tread on.
▪ If toes had to be trodden on, too bad.
▪ Tried not to think what they were treading on.
▪ Scorpions seldom go out of their way to attack people and accidents usually happen when scorpions are trodden on.
▪ Scorpions will only sting a person if threatened or if accidentally trodden on.
warily
▪ In fact, it seemed to me that Lisa was aware of a good deal and was treading warily, terrified of alienating anyone.
■ NOUN
angel
▪ Ambition: Will cause you to rush in where angels fear to tread.
▪ Fools drive where angels fear to tread.
foot
▪ Taking great care where she placed her feet, she trod softly down the stairs.
▪ Immediately, temples in which no Harijan foot had ever trod were opened to all.
▪ Danny's filthy fingernails were digging into his neck and his one foot was treading on Henry's toes.
▪ This occurs prior to the physical techniques of wedging, kneading and foot-treading.
▪ Suddenly she realised that another pair of hands was piling rugs on and a pair of feet treading them down.
ground
▪ Nor could anyone know that he had reservations; that he didn't feel as we all did, treading that ground.
▪ They are treading unfamiliar ground in the relegation zone and have failed to keep a clean sheet this season.
line
▪ Such an approach treads a thin line between the traditional pluralist and Marxist divide in media studies.
▪ This is indeed treading the fine line between glory and disaster.
▪ The full report is likely to recommend the curriculum tread a line between principles and content.
▪ The system of dispute resolution attempts to tread a careful line between consumer and vendor interests.
path
▪ This is a difficult path to tread, however.
▪ Power sharing was not an easy path to tread.
▪ In this respect my Working Group were following the path already trodden by the Swann Committee.
▪ NetWare SunLink puts Sun on a path already trodden it seems by almost everyone else in the industry.
toe
▪ I danced rigidly with Giacomo, kicking his shins and treading on his toes.
▪ She has a sharp cutting edge and woe betide the Europhile who treads on her toes.
▪ Danny's filthy fingernails were digging into his neck and his one foot was treading on Henry's toes.
▪ But I don't want us to tread on each other's toes.
▪ Don't know the rules, don't want to tread on any toes.
■ VERB
fear
▪ Ambition: Will cause you to rush in where angels fear to tread.
▪ Fools drive where angels fear to tread.
▪ Politicians rushed in where philosophers have feared to tread.
▪ Smaller governments rush in where feds fear to tread.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
be (walking/treading/skating) on thin ice
▪ He was on thin ice before.
▪ It had been granted grudgingly and she knew she was on thin ice as far as her superiors were concerned.
fools rush in (where angels fear to tread)
tread on sb's toes
▪ But I don't want us to tread on each other's toes.
▪ Danny's filthy fingernails were digging into his neck and his one foot was treading on Henry's toes.
▪ Don't know the rules, don't want to tread on any toes.
▪ I danced rigidly with Giacomo, kicking his shins and treading on his toes.
▪ She has a sharp cutting edge and woe betide the Europhile who treads on her toes.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ We trod carefully over the icy cobblestones.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Anyway the moment I trod the stage I felt completely at home.
▪ Censorship was not legally defined so the opposition movement had to tread carefully.
▪ Fools drive where angels fear to tread.
▪ This is indeed treading the fine line between glory and disaster.
▪ To examine the work, viewers must decide whether to tread on a flag laid neatly on the floor before it.
▪ We've made the effort, we've seen the airport, we've nearly got trodden on dozens of times.
▪ When I get to the pool I am both delighted and relieved to see Winston treading water.
II.noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
heavy
▪ As if in answer to her wish she heard a heavy, masculine tread on the uncarpeted stairs outside her door.
▪ She patrolled the aisles like a gaoler and woe betide you if that heavy tread stopped at your desk.
▪ Then after about an hour I heard the familiar heavy tread of Dad's boots on the cobbles.
▪ This is especially true where dust and grime collects and in heavy tread areas like the hall, stairs and landing.
▪ Dressed for the city, he kisses the Yorkies on the head and climbs into a jeep with heavy tread tyres.
▪ I was deep in such thoughts when I heard Mum's unmistakable heavy tread coming towards the door.
▪ Then the heavy tread of feet down the passage.
▪ Caro waited in the kitchen till she heard Bryony's heavy tread going from the bathroom to her bedroom.
■ VERB
hear
▪ He had taken only a few hasty steps when he heard the tread of feet on the wooden steps above his head.
▪ Then after about an hour I heard the familiar heavy tread of Dad's boots on the cobbles.
▪ Caro waited in the kitchen till she heard Bryony's heavy tread going from the bathroom to her bedroom.
▪ She heard Adam's heavy tread moving down the hall, and slowed a little, her heart shrinking within her.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ As if in answer to her wish she heard a heavy, masculine tread on the uncarpeted stairs outside her door.
▪ His bare feet could identify all the frayed patches on the long ribbon of carpet and each worn tread on the stairs.
▪ It was with relief that I heard Sherlock Holmes's familiar tread upon the stairs.
▪ Stairs of dark wood curved up from the hall, and the old treads creaked under their combined weight.
▪ Suddenly there came the sound of the tread of the patriarch.
▪ The outside of the shoe was constructed from woven fabric and metal with a ribbed silicon rubber tread.
▪ The tyre tread does not protrude beyond the wheel arch, but the side wall does noticeably.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Tread

Tread \Tread\, v. i. [imp. Trod; p. p. Trodden, Trod; p. pr. & vb. n. Treading.] [OE. treden, AS. tredan; akin to OFries. treda, OS. tredan, D. & LG. treden, G. treten, OHG. tretan, Icel. tro?a, Sw. tr[*a]da, tr["a]da, Dan. tr[ae]de, Goth. trudan, and perhaps ultimately to F. tramp; cf. Gr. ? a running, Skr. dram to run. Cf. Trade, Tramp, Trot.]

  1. To set the foot; to step.

    Where'er you tread, the blushing flowers shall rise.
    --Pope.

    Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
    --Pope.

    The hard stone Under our feet, on which we tread and go.
    --Chaucer.

  2. To walk or go; especially, to walk with a stately or a cautious step.

    Ye that . . . stately tread, or lowly creep.
    --Milton.

  3. To copulate; said of birds, esp. the males. --Shak. To tread on or To tread upon.

    1. To trample; to set the foot on in contempt. ``Thou shalt tread upon their high places.''
      --Deut. xxxiii. 29.

    2. to follow closely. ``Year treads on year.''
      --Wordsworth.

      To tread upon the heels of, to follow close upon. ``Dreadful consequences that tread upon the heels of those allowances to sin.''
      --Milton.

      One woe doth tread upon another's heel.
      --Shak.

Tread

Tread \Tread\, n.

  1. A step or stepping; pressure with the foot; a footstep; as, a nimble tread; a cautious tread.

    She is coming, my own, my sweet; Were it ever so airy a tread, My heart would hear her and beat.
    --Tennyson.

  2. Manner or style of stepping; action; gait; as, the horse has a good tread.

  3. Way; track; path. [R.]
    --Shak.

  4. The act of copulation in birds.

  5. (Arch.) The upper horizontal part of a step, on which the foot is placed.

  6. (Fort.) The top of the banquette, on which soldiers stand to fire over the parapet.

  7. (Mach.)

    1. The part of a wheel that bears upon the road or rail.

    2. The part of a rail upon which car wheels bear.

  8. (Biol.) The chalaza of a bird's egg; the treadle.

  9. (Far.) A bruise or abrasion produced on the foot or ankle of a horse that interferes. See Interfere, 3.

Tread

Tread \Tread\, v. t.

  1. To step or walk on.

    Forbid to tread the promised land he saw.
    --Prior.

    Methought she trod the ground with greater grace.
    --Dryden.

  2. To beat or press with the feet; as, to tread a path; to tread land when too light; a well-trodden path.

  3. To go through or accomplish by walking, dancing, or the like. `` I am resolved to forsake Malta, tread a pilgrimage to fair Jerusalem.''
    --Beau. & Fl.

    They have measured many a mile, To tread a measure with you on this grass.
    --Shak.

  4. To crush under the foot; to trample in contempt or hatred; to subdue.

    Through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us.
    --Ps. xliv.

  5. 5. To copulate with; to feather; to cover; -- said of the male bird.
    --Chaucer.

    To tread out, to press out with the feet; to press out, as wine or wheat; as, to tread out grain with cattle or horses.

    To tread the stage, to act as a stageplayer; to perform a part in a drama.

Related phrases:
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
tread

Old English tredan "to tread, step on, trample; traverse, pass over" (class V strong verb; past tense træd, past participle treden), from Proto-Germanic *tred- (cognates: Old Saxon tredan, Old Frisian treda, Middle Dutch treden, Old High German tretan, German treten, Gothic trudan, Old Norse troða), from PIE *der- (1) "assumed base of roots meaning 'to run, walk, step'" [Watkins]. Related: Trod; treading.

tread

early 13c., "a step or stepping, pressure with the foot," from tread (v.); in reference to automobile tires, it is recorded from 1906.

Wiktionary
tread

Etymology 1 vb. 1 (context intransitive English) To step or walk (on or over something); to trample. 2 (context transitive English) To step or walk upon. 3 To beat or press with the feet. 4 To go through or accomplish by walking, dancing, etc. 5 To crush under the foot; to trample in contempt or hatred; to subdue. 6 (context intransitive English) To copulate; said of (especially male) birds. 7 (context transitive of a male bird English) To copulate with. 8 (en-past of: tread) Etymology 2

n. 1 A step. 2 A manner of stepping. 3 (context obsolete English) A way; a track or path. 4 The grooves carved into the face of a tire, used to give the tire traction. (from 1900s) 5 The grooves on the bottom of a shoe or other footwear, used to give grip or traction. 6 The horizontal part of a step in a flight of stairs. 7 The sound made when someone or something is walking. 8 (context biology English) The chalaza of a bird's egg; the treadle. 9 The act of copulation in birds. 10 (context fortification English) The top of the banquette, on which soldiers stand to fire over the parapet. 11 A bruise or abrasion produced on the foot or ankle of a horse that interferes, or strikes its feet together.

Related phrases:
WordNet
tread

  1. n. a step in walking or running [syn: pace, stride]

  2. the grooved surface of a pneumatic tire

  3. the part (as of a wheel or shoe) that makes contact with the ground

  4. structural member consisting of the horizontal part of a stair or step

  5. [also: trodden, trod]

tread

  1. v. put down or press the foot, place the foot; "For fools rush in where angels fear to tread"; "step on the brake" [syn: step]

  2. tread or stomp heavily or roughly; "The soldiers trampled across the fields" [syn: trample]

  3. crush as if by treading on; "tread grapes to make wine"

  4. brace (an archer's bow) by pressing the foot against the center

  5. apply (the tread) to a tire

  6. mate with; "male birds tread the females"

  7. [also: trodden, trod]

Related phrases:
Wikipedia
Tread

The tread of a tire or track refers to the rubber on its circumference that makes contact with the road or the ground. As tires are used, the tread is worn off, limiting its effectiveness in providing traction. A worn tire can often be retreaded.

The grooves in the tire are correctly called the tread pattern, or simply the pattern, but the word tread is often used casually to refer to the pattern of grooves molded into the rubber. The grooves are not the tread, as they do not make contact with the ground. This distinction becomes significant in the case of racing slicks: which certainly have a tread but do not have grooves, and so they neither have a pattern.

Related phrases:

Usage examples of "tread".

He headed for the fountain to wait for his grandson, treading like a snow leopard across the Himalayas, knowing a mate must be somewhere up there among the alpenglow and mist.

For the last few hundred yards the amtracs had been crawling over the shallow tidal flats, churning the coral mud under their heavy treads and rising farther and farther out of the lagoon.

Downward they fled, From under the haunted roof, To the valley aquake with the tread Of an iron-resounding hoof, As of legions of thunderful horse Broken loose and in line tramping hard.

Puerilities of fancy and monstrosities of passion arbitrarily connected with principles claiming to be eternal truths should be carefully separated, and not the whole be despised and trodden on together.

Surely this is madness, Atene, for how knowest thou in what likeness thou mightest be sent to tread the earth again?

Thy Father, who is holy, wise, and pure, Suffers the hypocrite or atheous priest To tread his sacred courts, and minister About his altar, handling holy things, Praying or vowing, and voutsafed his voice 490 To Balaam reprobate, a prophet yet Inspired: disdain not such access to me.

I have touched lightly on the matter, only to give to my readers some idea of my conduct in my own country, where I began to tread a path which was to lead me to a state prison as inscrutable as it was unconstitutional.

Ghostly footfalls trod the old Beld mansion, and bloodshed and murder followed in their wake!

In a very short time Percy appeared again and slowly advanced to Blinky with a decided tread.

The bondslave, John Ruark, quietly considered his master, having already realized that he would have to tread lightly when dealing with him, for the man was as sharp-witted as it had been rumored.

There, no doubt, they tread on rugs from Teheran and are diverted by the bulbul and play upon the dulcimer and feed upon sweetmeats.

And this patented inner tread means Bungee Condoms hug the surface to prevent dangerous slips and slides.

Soon after Mariuccia came in, looking timid, confused, and as if she were doubtful of the path she was treading.

I, who have trodden upon kingdoms and humbled sultans, come to my doom because of a cringing trull and a Caphar renegade!

I trod water and organized the nylon cord, then struck out for the edge of the cenote, paying out the cord behind me, until I grasped a tree root at water-level.