1  definition  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  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. 

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