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DictionarytreadGrip surface
noun / verb

tread

TRED/tred/

The action of placing a foot on a surface.

A person in boots treads firmly on a woodland path.

Close-up of a boot stepping firmly onto a woodland path, visible sole and foot placement.
Etymology
treadOld Englishwalk, step on

The old verb covered both walking and stepping on something. That range survives in tread: it can describe movement on foot or the pressure of a foot against a surface.

In context

Enhanced Public Domain595:37
the yahoos draw home the sheaves in carriages and the servants tread them in certain covered Huts to get out the grain
1700s Satire: Jonathan Swift - Gulliver's Travels (Audiobook)

More examples

  • Be careful not to tread on the seedlings.
  • Her heavy tread makes the old floorboards creak.
  • We trod softly across the damp grass.

Forms

tread · treads · trod · trodden · treading

Similar words

step
Names a single foot movement without suggesting pressure.
walk
Usually describes continuous movement rather than individual foot placement.
trample
Means stepping heavily enough to crush or damage something.