treader
(ˈtrɛdə(r))
[f. tread v. + -er1.]
1. One who or that which treads, in various senses.
| 1382 Wyclif Amos ix. 13 The erer shal cacche the reper, and treder of grape the man sendynge seed. 1538 Elyot, Lenobates, a treader of grapes. 1599 T. M[oufet] Silkwormes 33 Hence, sparrow treaders liue out scarce a year. 1601 R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 123 The Gothes and Vandales, the verie treaders downe of the Roman Empire. 1760 Law Spir. Prayer ii. 112 The seed of the woman, the treader on the serpent's head. 1826 Scott Woodst. xiv, A treader of mortar, or a bearer of a hod. 1869 Pall Mall G. 15 Nov. 3 More grapes were now thrown in, and again the treaders set to work. 1887 Suppl. to Jamieson, Tredder, a cock-bird, but generally applied to a [domestic] cock. |
† b. See quot. Obs.
| 1552 Elyot, Anteambulo,..the vssher or treader that goeth before his maister. |
c. One who is on the treadmill. rare.
| 1824 Syd. Smith Wks. (1859) II. 35/2 A treader, untried by a jury of his countrymen,..striving against the law of gravity. |
2. = treadle n. 2. rare.
| 1747 Gentl. Mag. Jan. 16/1 A wheel, to which motion was given by the foot by means of a treadle or treader. |
3. = tread n. 11.
| 1881 Young Every Man his own Mechanic §1321 If a garden step or any other step with a treader of stone is required to be made. |