tredmill

Noun

treadmill (plural treadmills)

1. A piece of indoor sporting equipment used to allow for the motions of running or walking while staying in one place.
2. (historical) A mill worked by persons treading upon steps on the periphery of a wide wheel having a horizontal axis. It was used principally as a means of prison discipline.
   • Their paternal house of Drummington, Foker could very seldom be got to visit. He swore he had rather go on the treadmill than stay there.1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 40, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published...

   Synonyms:

   mill, stepper, everlasting staircase

3. A mill worked by horses, dogs, etc., treading an endless belt.
   • Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to...2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4
4. (figuratively) A process or situation in which continued effort leads to or is required for remaining at a particular state or level without moving ahead.
   • 1 As a result, people can easily find themselves alternating between various treadmills: the hedonic treadmill of pursuing happiness, the status treadmill requiring conspicuous consumption, and the treadmill of work undertaken to finance one's activity on the other two treadmills.2018 April 3, Emrys Westacott, The Wisdom of Frugality: Why Less Is More - More or Less, Princeton University Press, →ISBN, page 205

See all 6 meanings of treadmill