Treads

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To step upon a surface or pathway while leaving marks through repeated pressure, as well as to progress in a certain behavioral manner while moving forward
2. To place one foot on the ground or another surface in walking or stepping ; the raised design or grooves on the surface of a tire or shoe that helps grip the ground
3. To move by stepping or walking along a path ; the textured or patterned parts on the bottom of footwear or tires that provide traction

Etymology: "Treads" is the third-person singular present form of "tread," the verb meaning to step on something or walk along a path, leaving marks through repeated pressure. The verb descends from Old English "tredan," which English speakers have used for well over a thousand years, and its roots reach back to Proto-Germanic "trudaną." Because the word is so old, it has outlasted many of its near relatives, and its core idea of pressing down with the foot has stayed remarkably steady. The noun "tread" developed from the verb in Middle English, when speakers began using it for the act of stepping itself and the physical part of a stair or shoe that meets the ground. Those two uses are why a staircase step and a tyre's grooved surface both carry the same name today. The "treads" you see here is simply the form that goes with a singular subject, as in "she treads carefully."

Synonyms: steps, walks, tramples