tread

[tred] /trɛd/
verb (used without object), trod, trodden or trod, treading.
1.
to set down the foot or feet in walking; step; walk.
2.
to step, walk, or trample so as to press, crush, or injure something (usually followed by on or upon):
to tread on a person's foot.
3.
(of a male bird) to copulate.
verb (used with object), trod, trodden or trod, treading.
4.
to step or walk on, about, in, or along.
5.
to trample or crush underfoot.
6.
to form by the action of walking or trampling:
to tread a path.
7.
to treat with disdainful harshness or cruelty; crush; oppress.
8.
to perform by walking or dancing:
to tread a measure.
9.
(of a male bird) to copulate with (a female bird).
noun
10.
the action of treading, stepping, or walking.
11.
the sound of footsteps.
12.
manner of treading or walking.
13.
a single step as in walking.
14.
any of various things or parts on which a person or thing treads, stands, or moves.
15.
the part of the under surface of the foot or of a shoe that touches the ground.
16.
the horizontal upper surface of a step in a stair, on which the foot is placed.
17.
the part of a wheel, tire, or runner that bears on the road, rail, etc.
18.
the pattern raised on or cut into the face of a rubber tire.
19.
caterpillar tread.
20.
Railroads. that part of a rail in contact with the treads of wheels.
Idioms
21.
tread on someone's toes / corns, to offend or irritate someone.
22.
tread the boards, to act on the stage, especially professionally:
He recalled the days when he had trod the boards.
23.
tread water,
  1. Swimming. to maintain the body erect in the water with the head above the surface usually by a pumping up-and-down movement of the legs and sometimes the arms.
  2. Slang. to make efforts that maintain but do not further one's status, progress, or performance:
    He's just treading water here until he can find another job.
Origin
before 900; (v.) Middle English treden, Old English tredan; cognate with Old Frisian treda, Old Saxon tredan, Dutch treden, German treten; akin to Old Norse trotha, Gothic trudan; (noun) Middle English tred footprint, derivative of the v.
Related forms
treader, noun
overtread, noun
subtread, noun
British Dictionary definitions for tread the boards

tread

/trɛd/
verb treads, treading, trod, trodden, trod
1.
to walk or trample in, on, over, or across (something)
2.
when intr, foll by on. to crush or squash by or as if by treading: to tread grapes, to tread on a spider
3.
(intransitive) sometimes foll by on. to subdue or repress, as by doing injury (to): to tread on one's inferiors
4.
(transitive) to do by walking or dancing: to tread a measure
5.
(transitive) (of a male bird) to copulate with (a female bird)
6.
tread lightly, to proceed with delicacy or tact
7.
tread on someone's toes, to offend or insult someone, esp by infringing on his sphere of action, etc
8.
tread water, to stay afloat in an upright position by moving the legs in a walking motion
noun
9.
a manner or style of walking, dancing, etc: a light tread
10.
the act of treading
11.
the top surface of a step in a staircase
12.
the outer part of a tyre or wheel that makes contact with the road, esp the grooved surface of a pneumatic tyre
13.
the part of a rail that wheels touch
14.
the part of a shoe that is generally in contact with the ground
15.
(vet science) an injury to a horse's foot caused by the opposite foot, or the foot of another horse
16.
a rare word for footprint
Derived Forms
treader, noun
Word Origin
Old English tredan; related to Old Norse trotha , Old High German tretan, Swedish träda
Word Origin and History for tread the boards

tread

v.

Old English tredan (class V strong verb; past tense træd, past participle treden), from Proto-Germanic *tredanan (cf. Old Frisian treda, Middle Dutch treden, Old High German tretan, German treten, Gothic trudan, Old Norse troða).

n.

early 13c., from tread (v.); in reference to automobile tires, it is recorded from 1906.

Idioms and Phrases with tread the boards

tread the boards

Act on the stage, as in Her main ambition was to tread the boards in a big city. This idiom uses boards in the sense of “a theatrical stage,” a usage dating from the mid-1700s. It dates from the mid-1800s but was preceded by the idiom tread the stage, first recorded in 1691.

tread

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