Treading

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. [1913 Webster]

Where'er you tread, the blushing flowers shall rise. --Pope. [1913 Webster]

Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. --Pope. [1913 Webster]

The hard stone Under our feet, on which we tread and go. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]

2. To walk or go; especially, to walk with a stately or a cautious step. [1913 Webster]

Ye that . . . stately tread, or lowly creep. --Milton. [1913 Webster]

3. To copulate; said of birds, esp. the males. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

{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. [1913 Webster]

One woe doth tread upon another's heel. --Shak. [1913 Webster]