1A device formerly used for driving machinery, consisting of a large wheel with steps fitted into its inner surface. It was turned by the weight of people or animals treading the steps.

1. 1.1 An exercise machine, typically with a continuous belt, that allows one to walk or run in place.
   Example sentencesExamples

   • During my physio sessions, I also would walk on a treadmill, uphill, to try and strengthen and condition my lower body.
   • We drive to work, then go to the gym to walk on a treadmill.
   • Exercise therapy comprised an individualised aerobic exercise programme, mostly walking on treadmills and cycling on exercise bicycles.
   • Even while watching TV, people can use the treadmill, do knee exercises or do bicycling; every movement consumes calories so it pays to be active.
   • She started out walking on a treadmill at the Yates YMCA, then tried jogging 15 seconds, then 30 seconds, then a minute.
   • The exercise may be walking on a treadmill or riding a stationary bicycle.
   • In a study he helped conduct, published in the Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation, women who exercised in groups were more likely to continue working out than women who exercised alone on treadmills.
   • I also began to exercise, usually walking on the treadmill for two miles.
   • For exercise, each subject walked on a treadmill at a rate sufficient to achieve a minute ventilation that was approximately 3 times his or her resting rate.
   • Slimmers, abdomen reduction belts, treadmills and fitness equipment are up for sale at a few stalls.
   • Fitness levels were determined by how long participants could walk on a treadmill without becoming fatigued and short of breath.
   • The 32-year-old physics graduate got the idea about five years ago because he found cardiovascular training on bikes and treadmills boring.
   • She likes to read and then sit around and think (or walk on a treadmill and think), but hasn't yet figured out a way to make a lot of money doing that.
   • Specials also extend to exercise equipment, with exercise bikes and small treadmills available for under $35 and home gym sets from under $450.
   • I walked on the treadmill for an average of 33 minutes on seven of the eight days I was gone and also managed a few hikes in the heat, so that was a good thing.
   • Day 3 of the fitness program involved half an hour at the gym - 10 minutes each on the treadmill, exercise bike and cross-trainer.
   • I think this is a far better solution than rewarding those who (somewhat ironically) drive across town twice a week in January to walk on a treadmill for an hour.
   • It's a good thing I've been walking on the treadmill at the Y, because the hike from the house to the mailbox was about a mile and a half.
   • This test combines a standard ECG with moderate exercise such as walking on a treadmill.
   • The six male and six female participants completed four 90-minute walks on a treadmill in a refrigerated wind tunnel.
2. 1.2 A job or situation that is tiring, boring, or unpleasant and from which it is hard to escape.
   the soulless treadmill of urban existence

   Example sentencesExamples

   • New to Scotland, the classes are being booked up by people who have grown tired of the treadmill and are taking up tassels instead.
   • She's working hard on the promotional treadmill, and we're confident about her future.
   • In 1995, his second book, Ocean of Sound, provided a handy escape from the journalistic treadmill.
   • The festival was an outcry against everyday life and a short escape from the treadmill of the work-eat-sleep regime.
   • While debt relief has been extremely effective, it is not sufficient to allow poor countries escape the treadmill of borrowing to repay old loans.