Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary полностью

1 ADJ If you describe someone as treacherous , you mean that they are likely to betray you and cannot be trusted. [DISAPPROVAL ] □  He publicly left the party and denounced its treacherous leaders.

2 ADJ If you say that something is treacherous , you mean that it is very dangerous and unpredictable. □  The current of the river is fast flowing and treacherous.

treach|ery /tre tʃəri/ N‑UNCOUNT Treachery is behaviour or an action in which someone betrays their country or betrays a person who trusts them.

trea|cle /triː k ^ə l/ N‑UNCOUNT Treacle is a thick, sweet, sticky liquid that is obtained when sugar is processed. It is used in making cakes and puddings. [BRIT ] in AM, use molasses

tread /tre d/ (treads , treading , trod , trodden )

1 VERB If you tread on something, you put your foot on it when you are walking or standing. □ [V + on ] Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to tread on your foot.

2 VERB If you tread in a particular way, you walk that way. [LITERARY ] □ [V adv] She trod casually, enjoying the touch of the damp grass on her feet.

3 N‑SING A person's tread is the sound that they make with their feet as they walk. [WRITTEN ] □  We could now very plainly hear their heavy tread. [Also + of ]

4 VERB If you tread carefully, you behave in a careful or cautious way. □ [V adv] If you are hoping to form a new relationship tread carefully and slowly to begin with.

5 N‑COUNT The tread of a step or stair is its flat upper surface. □  He walked up the stairs. The treads were covered with a kind of rubber and very quiet.

6 N‑VAR The tread of a tyre or shoe is the pattern of thin lines cut into its surface that stops it slipping. □  The fat, broad tyres had a good depth of tread.

7 PHRASE If someone is treading a fine line or path , they are acting carefully because they have to avoid making a serious mistake, especially in a situation where they have to deal with two opposing demands. □ [+ between ] They have to tread the delicate path between informing children and boring them.

8 PHRASE If you tread a particular path , you take a particular course of action or do something in a particular way. □  He continues to tread an unconventional path.

9 PHRASE If someone who is in deep water treads water , they float in an upright position by moving their legs slightly.

10 PHRASE If you say that someone is treading water , you mean that they are in an unsatisfactory situation where they are not progressing, but are just continuing doing the same things. □  I could either tread water until I was promoted, or I could change what I was doing.

11to tread on someone's toes → see toe

trea|dle /tre d ^ə l/ (treadles ) N‑COUNT The treadle on a spinning wheel or sewing machine is a lever that you operate with your foot in order to turn a wheel in the machine.

tread|mill /tre dm I l/ (treadmills )

1 N‑COUNT [usu sing] You can refer to a task or a job as a treadmill when you have to keep doing it although it is unpleasant and exhausting. □  Mr Stocks can expect a gruelling week on the publicity treadmill.

2 N‑COUNT A treadmill is a piece of equipment, for example an exercise machine, consisting of a wheel with steps around its edge or a continuous moving belt. The weight of a person or animal walking on it causes the wheel or belt to turn.

trea|son /triː z ^ə n/ N‑UNCOUNT Treason is the crime of betraying your country, for example by helping its enemies or by trying to remove its government using violence.

trea|son|able /triː zənəb ^ə l/ ADJ Treasonable activities are criminal activities which someone carries out with the intention of helping their country's enemies or removing its government using violence. □  They were brought to trial for treasonable conspiracy.

treas|ure /tre ʒə ^r / (treasures , treasuring , treasured )