Word.ws English Dictionary

treadle

/ˈtɹɛdl̩/

treadle noun: a foot-operated pedal or lever that generates motion.

treadle: a foot-operated pedal or lever that generates motion
Image: Mark Knobil from Pittsburgh, usa, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

treadle (plural treadles)

  1. A foot-operated pedal or lever that generates motion.
    • To the rear end of the shaft B, is attached a band wheel, to the periphery of which is attached a strap J, which descends to a treadle, to be operated by the foot, but which requires no description.1846, editorial staff, “NAIL SWEDGING MACHINE”, in Scientific American, series 1, Volume 2, Issue 13, page 97
    • There is an inconspicuous treadle let into the floor and when you step on it an air-operated door-opening mechanism is automatically activated; [...].1960 March, G. Freeman Allen, “Europe's most luxurious express - the "Settebello"”, in Trains Illustrated, page 141
  2. A device actuated by wheels passing over it.
    • As a car enters the parking area the front wheels pass over a treadle, causing a timber barrier to lift and allow the motorist to drive in and park. No money is required at this stage. As the car passes over a second treadle, just beyond the entrance, the barrier falls again.1962 July, “Talking of Trains: Automatic car park at Harlow”, in Modern Railways, pages 11–12
  3. Chalaza.

Verb

treadle (third-person singular simple present treadles, present participle treadling, simple past and past participle treadled)

  1. (intransitive) To use a treadle.
  2. (transitive) To press a specific treadle or sequence of treadles on the loom.
    • You can play with treadling a straight or point twill, treadle just Block A, treadle just Block B, or mix and match all the options.2026, Sydney Sogol, “Blue Morpho Runner”, in Handwoven, volume XLVII, number 1, page 51

treadle meaning in Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada

treadle in Tamil

மிதி

treadle in Malayalam

ചവട്ടി പ്രവർത്തിക്കുന്ന യന്ത്രഭാഗം, പാദചലനയന്ത്രം, ചവിട്ടുപടി, യന്ത്രച്ചവിട്ട്

treadle in Kannada

ಕಾಲುಸನ್ನೆ

Forms of treadle

Noun
pluraltreadles
Verb
third-person singular presenttreadles
present participletreadling
past participletreadled
pasttreadled

Origin of treadle

From Middle English tredel, from Old English tredel; equivalent to tread + -le.

Words formed from treadle

Words that rhyme with treadle

Questions about treadle

What does treadle mean?
Treadle means a foot-operated pedal or lever that generates motion.
What is treadle in Tamil?
Treadle in Tamil is மிதி. See Treadle meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is treadle?
Treadle can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce treadle?
Treadle is pronounced /ˈtɹɛdl̩/.
What is the plural of treadle?
The plural of treadle is treadles.

Words near treadle in the dictionary

  1. treading the boards
  2. treading the stage
  3. treading upon
  4. treading water
  5. treadings
  6. treadle
  7. treadled
  8. treadler
  9. treadlers
  10. treadles
  11. treadless

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: treadle (page history and authors); treadle (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); treadle (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); treadle (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-treadle.wav.

Cite this entry: “treadle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/treadle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.