: a swiveling or lever device pressed by the foot to drive a machine
treadled; treadling
ˈtred-liŋ,
ˈtre-dᵊl-iŋ
: to operate a treadle
: to operate (a machine) by a treadle
Examples of treadle in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Bill Gourgey, Popular Science, 25 Apr. 2023
His only machinery was a buffing machine and a sewing table with a treadle.
—Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2019
The treadle model #15 is now nearing antique status, being made from 1895 to 1995.
—Brenda Yenke, cleveland.com, 19 Sep. 2019
Tenzi started giving sewing lessons last year, teaching the class using old-fashioned treadle machines because City of Hope wasn’t on the electrical grid.
—Shay Maunz, Glamour, 8 Mar. 2019
Tetrev’s father helped build out the space, which features a treadle-type pottery wheel in the window of the storefront.
—Caitlin Mullen, chicagotribune.com, 12 June 2018
British dentists in the 1970s, when power outages were a regular occurrence, might have kept an old treadle drill in the cupboard to add fillings without using electricity.
—Roslyn Sulcas, New York Times, 7 June 2018
Stoppelman explained that individual warp threads, which make up the longitudinal pattern in woven cloth, are put on a roller and then threaded individually through wire heddles, which are attached to a shaft and then to a foot treadle.
—Annie Gentile, Courant Community, 22 Mar. 2018
Tomas Tranströmer, The New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2024
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Noun
In December 1943, longtime contributor Walter E. Burton explained how to motorize a treadle sewing machine.
—Bill Gourgey, Popular Science, 25 Apr. 2023
His only machinery was a buffing machine and a sewing table with a treadle.
—Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2019
The treadle model #15 is now nearing antique status, being made from 1895 to 1995.
—Brenda Yenke, cleveland.com, 19 Sep. 2019
Tenzi started giving sewing lessons last year, teaching the class using old-fashioned treadle machines because City of Hope wasn’t on the electrical grid.
—Shay Maunz, Glamour, 8 Mar. 2019
Tetrev’s father helped build out the space, which features a treadle-type pottery wheel in the window of the storefront.
—Caitlin Mullen, chicagotribune.com, 12 June 2018
British dentists in the 1970s, when power outages were a regular occurrence, might have kept an old treadle drill in the cupboard to add fillings without using electricity.
—Roslyn Sulcas, New York Times, 7 June 2018
Stoppelman explained that individual warp threads, which make up the longitudinal pattern in woven cloth, are put on a roller and then threaded individually through wire heddles, which are attached to a shaft and then to a foot treadle.
—Annie Gentile, Courant Community, 22 Mar. 2018
Verb
Empty words for the creatures in the late-summer midnight
where the crickets treadle furiously on the sewing-machines of themselves
and the Baltic’s near
and the solitary water-tap rears among the wild roses
like an equestrian statue.
—Tomas Tranströmer, The New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Treadle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/treadle. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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