Tread v. i. [imp. Trod p. p. Trodden Trod; p. pr. & vb. n. Treading.]
  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.
  To tread on or To tread 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.
  tread
       n 1: a step in walking or running [syn: pace, stride]
       2: the grooved surface of a pneumatic tire
       3: the part (as of a wheel or shoe) that makes contact with the
          ground
       4: structural member consisting of the horizontal part of a
          stair or step
       v 1: put down or press the foot, place the foot; "For fools rush
            in where angels fear to tread"; "step on the brake"
            [syn: step]
       2: tread or stomp heavily or roughly; "The soldiers trampled
          across the fields" [syn: trample]
       3: crush as if by treading on; "tread grapes to make wine"
       4: brace (an archer's bow) by pressing the foot against the
          center
       5: apply (the tread) to a tire
       6: mate with; "male birds tread the females"
       [also: trodden, trod]
  trodden
       adj : crushed or broken by being stepped upon heavily; "her
             trampled flowers lay crushed and broken"; "the grass
             was trodden and muddy" [syn: trampled]