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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.

Spurge nettle. See under Nettle.

See Tread, n., 5.

One who treads. Isa. xvi. 10.

A cock. [Obs.] Chaucer.

The chalaza of a bird's egg; the tread.

A mill worked by persons treading upon steps on the periphery of a wide wheel having a horizontal axis. It is used principally as a means of prison discipline. Also, a mill worked by horses, dogs, etc., treading an endless belt.

A wheel turned by persons or animals, by treading, climbing, or pushing with the feet, upon its periphery or face. See Treadmill.

To tread down; to trample upon. [Obs.] In hell shall they be all fortroden of devils. Chaucer.

Misstep; misbehavior. "To punish my mistreadings." Shak.

To tread over or upon.

To tread again.

To tread back; to retrace. Shak.

A kind of stout walking shoe, laced in front. A man who uses his balmorals to tread on your toes. George Eliot.

To tread, as a path. Pass awful gulfs, and beat my painful way. Blackmore.

Made smooth by beating or treading; worn by use. "A broad and beaten way." Milton. "Beaten gold." Shak.

ppalled with thoughts of bog, or caverned pit, Of treacherous earth, subsiding where they tread. R. Jago.

A notched board to which the treads and risers of the steps of wooden stairs are fastened.

ymbol of tragedy, or the tragic drama, as distinguished from comedy. Great Fletcher never treads in buskins here, No greater Jonson dares in socks appear. Dryden.

ists in the white of the bird's egg, and serves to maintain the yolk in its position; the treadle.