tread the boards


tread the boards

To be a stage actor; to act in a stage play. I've been treading the boards for nearly 30 years, and while I haven't grown rich from it, I've always loved it. He always yearned to tread the boards on Broadway.See also: board, tread

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. See also: board, tread

tread (or walk) the boards

appear on stage as an actor. informalSee also: board, tread

ˌtread the ˈboards

(humorous) be an actor: He has recently been treading the boards in a new play at the National.The boards refers to the stage of a theatre.See also: board, tread

tread the boards

To act on the stage: "We who tread the boards are not the only players of parts in this world" (John Fowles).See also: board, tread