tread
verb /tred/
/tred/
Verb Forms
Idioms | present simple I / you / we / they tread | /tred/ /tred/ |
| he / she / it treads | /tredz/ /tredz/ |
| past simple trod | /trɒd/ /trɑːd/ |
| past participle trodden | /ˈtrɒdn/ /ˈtrɑːdn/ |
| past participle trod | /trɒd/ /trɑːd/ |
| -ing form treading | /ˈtredɪŋ/ /ˈtredɪŋ/ |
- [intransitive] + adv./prep. (especially British English) 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.
Extra Examples- Be careful not to tread on the flowers.
- He came down the stairs, treading as heavily as he could.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- heavily
- gently
- lightly
- …
- in
- into
- on
- …
- [transitive] tread something (+ adv./prep.) to move, push or press something with your feet synonym trample
- Don't tread ash into the carpet!
- The wine is still made by treading grapes in the traditional way.
- She planted the seeds and trod the earth down.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- heavily
- gently
- lightly
- …
- in
- into
- on
- …
- [transitive, intransitive] tread (something) (formal or literary) to walk somewhere
- Few people had trod this path before.
- He was treading quietly and cautiously.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- heavily
- gently
- lightly
- …
- in
- into
- on
- …
Word OriginOld English tredan (as a verb), of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch treden and German treten.
Idioms
fools rush in (where angels fear to tread)
- (saying) people with little experience try to do the difficult or dangerous things that more experienced people would not consider doing
tread carefully, warily, etc.
- to be very careful about what you do or say
- The government will have to tread very carefully in handling this issue.
- We must tread warily —we don't want to offend anyone.
tread a difficult, dangerous, solitary, etc. path
- to choose and follow a particular way of life, way of doing something, etc.
- A restaurant has to tread the tricky path between maintaining quality and keeping prices down.
tread on somebody’s heels
- to follow somebody closely
tread on somebody’s toes (especially British English)
(North American English usually step on somebody’s toes)
- (informal) to offend or annoy somebody, especially by getting involved in something that is their responsibility
- I don’t want to tread on anybody’s toes so I’ll keep quiet.
tread/walk a tightrope
- to be in a difficult situation in which you do not have much freedom of action and need to be extremely careful about what you do
- The government is walking a difficult tightrope in wanting to reduce interest rates without pushing up inflation.
tread water
- to keep yourself in the same place in deep water by moving your arms and legs
- to make no progress while you are waiting for something to happen
- I decided to tread water until a better job came along.
walk/tread a fine/thin line (between A and B)
- to be in a difficult or dangerous situation where you could easily make a mistake
- He was walking a fine line between being funny and being rude.
- She often seems to tread a thin line between success and failure.
Extra Examples- His comedy treads the line between shocking and sickening.
- We have to walk a fine line to make sure we don't promote one brand more than another.
- His buildings walk the thin line between visionary and completely mad.
