tread the boards

phrase

old-fashioned

: to perform on a stage as an actor

It's been many years since he first trod the boards on Broadway.

Examples of tread the boards in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Swift swung by the Kit Kat Club to watch supermodel chum Cara Delevingne tread the boards as Sally Bowles in Cabaret in 2024. — Ben Jureidini, Vanity Fair, 15 Aug. 2026

Buffon Jr didn’t get to tread the boards at the Scala del Calcio on this occasion. — James Horncastle, New York Times, 28 Oct. 2025

In between the likes of Die Another Day, Pride and Prejudice, An Education, Jack Reacher, A United Kingdom and Saltburn, the actress took time to tread the boards in Hedda Gabler, Madame de Sade, Gaslight, Summer & Smoke, Hitchcock Blonde and more. — Baz Bamigboye, Deadline, 24 June 2025

Rabe hasn’t acted on stage for a decade, and Linklater last tread the boards in 2019. — Brent Lang, Variety, 11 Apr. 2025

My last chance to tread the boards had fizzled, the footlights shut down, and why not? — Cynthia Ozick, The New Yorker, 7 Mar. 2022

Rhymes for tread the boards

• harpsichords
• overlords
• storyboards
• accords
• affords
• awards
• billboards
• blackboards
• clapboards
• dashboards
• discords
• floorboards