Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular presenttense treats, present participle treating, past tense, past participle treated
1. verb
If you treat someone or something in a particular way, you behave towards them or deal with them in that way.
Artie treated most women with indifference. [VERB noun + with]
Police say they're treating it as a case of attempted murder. [VERB noun + as]
He felt the press had never treated him fairly. [VERB noun adverb]
The issues should be treated separately. [VERB noun adverb]
[Also V n like]
Synonyms: behave towards, deal with, handle, act towards More Synonyms of treat
2. verb
When a doctor or nurse treats a patient or an illness, he or she tries to make the patient well again.
Doctors treated her with aspirin. [VERB noun + with]
The boy was treated for a minor head wound. [VERB noun + for]
An experienced nurse treats all minor injuries. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: take care of, minister to, attend to, give medical treatment to More Synonyms of treat
3. verb
If something is treatedwith a particular substance, the substance is put onto or into it in order to clean it, to protect it, or to give it special properties.
About 70% of the cocoa acreage is treated with insecticide. [beVERB-ed + with]
It was many years before the city began to treat its sewage. [VERB noun]
Synonyms: prime, cover, process, prepare More Synonyms of treat
4. verb
If you treat someone to something special which they will enjoy, you buy it or arrange it for them.
She was always treating him to ice cream. [VERB noun + to]
Tomorrow I'll treat myself to a day's gardening. [VERB pronoun-reflexive + to]
If you want to treat yourself, the Malta Hilton offers high international standards. [VERB pronoun-reflexive]
[Also VERB noun]
Synonyms: provide, give, buy, stand [informal] More Synonyms of treat
5. countable noun
If you give someone a treat, you buy or arrange something special for them which they will enjoy.
Lettie had never yet failed to return from town without some special treat for him. [+ for]
Synonyms: present, gift, luxury, indulgence More Synonyms of treat
6. singular noun
If you say that something is your treat, you mean that you are paying for it as a treat for someone else.
[spoken]
7.
See a treat
8. to treat someone like dirt
More Synonyms of treat
treat in British English
(triːt)
noun
1.
a celebration, entertainment, gift, or feast given for or to someone and paid for by another
2.
any delightful surprise or specially pleasant occasion
3.
the act of treating
verb
4. (transitive)
to deal with or regard in a certain manner
she treats school as a joke
5. (transitive)
to apply treatment to
to treat a patient for malaria
6. (transitive)
to subject to a process or to the application of a substance
to treat photographic film with developer
7. (tr; often foll by to)
to provide (someone) (with) as a treat
he treated the children to a trip to the zoo
8. (intransitive; usually foll byof) formal
to deal (with), as in writing or speaking
9. (intransitive) formal
to discuss settlement; negotiate
Derived forms
treatable (ˈtreatable)
adjective
treater (ˈtreater)
noun
Word origin
C13: from Old French tretier, from Latin tractāre to manage, from trahere to drag
treat in American English
(trit)
verb intransitive
1.
to discuss terms (with a person or for a settlement); negotiate
2.
to deal with a subject in writing or speech; speak or write (of)
3.
to stand the cost of another's or others' entertainment
verb transitive
4.
to deal with (a subject) in writing, speech, music, painting, etc., esp. in a specified manner or style
5.
to act or behave toward (a person, animal, etc.) in a specified manner
6.
to have a specified attitude toward and deal with accordingly
to treat a mistake as a joke
7.
a.
to pay for the food, drink, entertainment, etc. of (another or others)
b.
to provide with something that pleases
8.
to subject to some process or to some substance in processing, as in a chemical procedure
9.
to give medical or surgical care to (someone) or for (some disorder)
noun
10.
a meal, drink, entertainment, etc. paid for by someone else
11.
anything that gives great pleasure
12.
a.
the act of treating or entertaining
b.
one's turn to treat
Derived forms
treatability (ˌtreataˈbility)
noun
treatable (ˈtreatable)
adjective
treater (ˈtreater)
noun
Word origin
ME treten < OFr traiter, to handle, meddle, treat < L tractare, freq. of trahere, to draw
More idioms containing
treat
treat someone with kid gloves
Examples of 'treat' in a sentence
treat
Their loss is a treat we should enjoy.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
All paramedics working in that area know to look there before treating an elderly patient.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
There are clinics which treat this particular phobia.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
It is a team sport but sometimes you have to treat individuals differently.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
You don't have to give treats.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
If last night is anything to go by, anyone there is in for a real treat.
The Sun (2016)
Does he treat ladies well?
The Sun (2016)
It was for a very specific thing to treat something that was historically a problem for me and could be quite a serious problem for me.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Another treat of a challenge.
The Sun (2016)
It taught me to enjoy treats in moderation.
The Sun (2014)
The food is the real treat here.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Use the money you save on cigarettes to buy yourself a treat.
The Sun (2010)
They were lavished with gifts and festive treats.
The Sun (2010)
The find could give clues for treating brain damage.
The Sun (2010)
You only have one body and you want to treat it well.
The Sun (2011)
They seem to me to treat one quite differently.
Thomas Hughes Tom Brown's Schooldays (1857)
Death is certainly not something we should treat casually.
Christianity Today (2000)
And people had better not get used to this particular treat.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Your interest is to survive and except in rare cases that means treating other people well.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
We can give presents and prizes and special treats.
Bethune, Helen Positive Parent Power (1991)
It is a good idea to prepare tasty treats to enjoy after all the excitement.
The Sun (2013)
The dodgy prosthetic gnashers must be a real treat to wrap your tongue around.
The Sun (2012)
Lenders treat friends buying together the same as any other joint mortgage application.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
The number of hospitals carrying out emergency surgery and treating patients who have suddenly become seriously ill will also be reduced.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Many of the deals are for treats such as meals out, spray tans and teeth whitening.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
In those days, we liked to arrange little treats for each other.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
It stems from a tendency to treat patients as passive victims rather than'active players in their own health care '.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
In other languages
treat
British English: treat /triːt/ NOUN
If you give someone a treat, you buy or arrange something special for them which they will enjoy.
His mother had never yet failed to return from town without some special treat for him.
American English: treat
Arabic: يَدْفَعُ لِشَخْص
Brazilian Portuguese: mimo
Chinese: 款待
Croatian: čašćenje
Czech: dárek
Danish: lille gave
Dutch: traktatie
European Spanish: gusto placer
Finnish: mukava yllätys
French: gâterie
German: Sondervergnügen
Greek: κέρασμα
Italian: piacere
Japanese: 歓待
Korean: 대접 즐겁게 하다
Norwegian: noe spesielt
Polish: przyjemność
European Portuguese: mimo
Romanian: bucurie
Russian: угощение
Latin American Spanish: gusto placer
Swedish: något extra gott
Thai: เลี้ยง ให้ของ
Turkish: birine ufak bir armağan alma
Ukrainian: задоволення
Vietnamese: sự thết đãi
British English: treat /triːt/ VERB
If you treat someone or something in a particular way, you behave towards them in that way.
Stop treating me like a child.
American English: treat
Arabic: يُعَامِلُ
Brazilian Portuguese: tratar
Chinese: 款待
Croatian: postupati s nekim
Czech: zacházet s lidmi
Danish: behandle
Dutch: behandelen
European Spanish: tratar
Finnish: kohdella
French: traiter
German: behandeln
Greek: μεταχειρίζομαι
Italian: trattare
Japanese: 扱う
Korean: 취급하다
Norwegian: behandle
Polish: potraktować
European Portuguese: tratar
Romanian: a considera
Russian: угощать
Latin American Spanish: tratar
Swedish: bjuda
Thai: ปฏิบัติต่อ
Turkish: davranmak muamele
Ukrainian: ставитися
Vietnamese: đối xử
All related terms of 'treat'
a treat
If you say , for example , that something looks or works a treat , you mean that it looks very good or works very well .
ill-treat
If someone ill-treats you, they treat you badly or cruelly.
Dutch treat
an entertainment , meal , etc, where each person pays for himself or herself
heat-treat
to apply heat to (a metal or alloy ) in one or more temperature cycles to give it desirable properties
treat addiction
Addiction is the condition of taking harmful drugs and being unable to stop taking them.
trick or treat
Trick or treat is an activity in which children knock on the doors of houses at Halloween and shout 'trick or treat'. If the person who answers the door does not give the children a treat, such as sweets or candy , they play a trick on him or her.
treat an infection
An infection is a disease caused by germs or bacteria .
treat the death as
Death is the permanent end of the life of a person or animal.
treat someone like dirt
to have no respect or consideration for someone
to treat someone like dirt
If you say that someone treats you like dirt , you are angry with them because you think that they treat you unfairly and with no respect .
treat someone with kid gloves
to treat someone very carefully, for example because they are very important or because they are easily upset
re
You use re in business letters , faxes , or other documents to introduce a subject or item which you are going to discuss or refer to in detail .
to handle sb with kid gloves
to treat someone with great tact or caution
Chinese translation of 'treat'
treat
(triːt)
n(c)
(= gift, outing) 待遇 (dàiyù)
(= luxury) 礼(禮)遇 (lǐyù)
vt
(= behave towards)[person, object]对(對)待 (duìdài)
(Med)[patient, illness]医(醫)治 (yīzhì)
(Tech)[substance, material]处(處)理 (chǔlǐ)
to treat sth as a joke把某事当(當)作笑话(話) (bǎ mǒushì dàngzuò xiàohuà)
to treat sb for a wound/injury给(給)某人治疗(療)伤(傷)口/伤(傷)处(處) (gěi mǒurén zhìliáo shāngkǒu/shāngchù)
to treat a substance/material with sth用某物处(處)理某种(種)物质(質)/材料 (yòng mǒuwù chǔlǐ mǒuzhǒng wùzhì/cáiliào)
to treat sb to sth用某物款待某人 (yòng mǒuwù kuǎndài mǒurén)
to treat o.s. to sth使自己享受某物 (shǐ zìjǐ xiǎngshòu mǒuwù)