Trail vs Tread - What's the difference?
trail | tread |
(label) To follow behind (someone or something); to tail (someone or something).
(label) To drag (something) behind on the ground.
* 1922 , (Virginia Woolf), (w, Jacob's Room) Chapter 1
(label) To leave (a trail of).
(label) To show a trailer of (a film, TV show etc.); to release or publish a preview of (a report etc.) in advance of the full publication.
To be losing, to be behind in a competition.
* {{quote-news, year=2011, date=December 29, author=Keith Jackson, work=Daily Record
, title= (label) To carry (a firearm) with the breech near the ground and the upper part inclined forward, the piece being held by the right hand near the middle.
To flatten (grass, etc.) by walking through it; to tread down.
(label) To take advantage of the ignorance of; to impose upon.
* (1816-1855)
The track or indication marking the route followed by something that has passed, such as the footprints of animal on land or the contrail of an airplane in the sky.
A route for travel over land, especially a narrow, unpaved pathway for use by hikers, horseback riders, etc.
A trailer broadcast on television for a forthcoming film or programme.
To step or walk (on or over something); to trample.
* Alexander Pope
* Milton
To step or walk upon.
To beat or press with the feet.
To go through or accomplish by walking, dancing, etc.
* Beaumont and Fletcher
* Shakespeare
To crush under the foot; to trample in contempt or hatred; to subdue.
* Bible, Psalms xliv. 5
To copulate; said of (especially male) birds.
(of a male bird) To copulate with.
(tread)
A step.
A manner of stepping.
* Tennyson
(obsolete) A way; a track or path.
The grooves carved into the face of a tire, used to give the tire traction.
The grooves on the bottom of a shoe or other footwear, used to give grip or traction.
The horizontal part of a step in a flight of stairs.
The sound made when someone or something is walking.
* 1886 , (Robert Louis Stevenson), (Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde)
* 1896 , (Bret Harte), Barker's Luck and Other Stories
(biology) The chalaza of a bird's egg; the treadle.
The act of copulation in birds.
(fortification) The top of the banquette, on which soldiers stand to fire over the parapet.
A bruise or abrasion produced on the foot or ankle of a horse that interferes, or strikes its feet together.
As a proper noun trail
is a city in british columbia.As a verb tread is
to step or walk (on or over something); to trample.As a noun tread is
a step.trail
English
Verb
(en verb)- "I saw your brother—I saw your brother," he said, nodding his head, as Archer lagged past him, trailing his spade, and scowling at the old gentleman in spectacles.
SPL: Celtic 1 Rangers 0, passage=Neil Lennon and his players have, in almost no time at all, roared back from trailing Rangers by 15 points in November to ending the year two points clear.}}
- (Longfellow)
- I presently perceived she was (what is vernacularly termed) trailing Mrs. Dent; that is, playing on her ignorance.
Derived terms
* trailer * trail offNoun
(en noun)Synonyms
* (track of an animal) spoor, sign * (route for travel over land) dirt track, footpath, path, trackDerived terms
* condensation trail, contrail * paper trail * sawdust trail * star trail * trail bike * trailblazer (see blazer) * trailblazing * trail mix * vapo(u)r trailSee also
* path * trackAnagrams
* * ----tread
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) treden, from (etyl) {{term, tredan, , to tread, step on, trample, traverse, pass over, enter upon, roam through , lang=ang}}, from (etyl) , Norwegian treda.Verb
- He trod back and forth wearily.
- Don't tread on the lawn.
- Fools rush in where angels fear to tread .
- ye that stately tread , or lowly creep
- Actors tread the boards.
- to tread''' a path; to '''tread''' land when too light; a well-'''trodden path
- I am resolved to forsake Malta, tread a pilgrimage to fair Jerusalem.
- They have measured many a mile, / To tread a measure with you on this grass.
- Through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us.
- (Shakespeare)
- (Chaucer)
Usage notes
* "(term)" is not commonly used in the UK and is less common in the US as well. It is apparently used more often in (tread water). * (term) is sometimes used as a past and past participle, especially in the US.Derived terms
* betread * * tread water * untrod * treading on eggshellsUse of expression in delicate situations; be nice
Etymology 2
From the above verb.Noun
(en noun)- She is coming, my own, my sweet; / Were it ever so airy a tread , / My heart would hear her and beat.
- (Shakespeare)
- The steps fell lightly and oddly, with a certain swing, for all they went so slowly; it was different indeed from the heavy creaking tread of Henry Jekyll. Utterson sighed. "Is there never anything else?" he asked.
- But when, after a singularly heavy tread and the jingle of spurs on the platform, the door flew open to the newcomer, he seemed a realization of our worst expectations.