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 upon.
(a) To trample; to set the foot on in contempt. ``Thou
shalt tread upon their high places.'' --Deut. xxxiii.
29.
(b) 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.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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