TREADMILL

Treadmill

A treadmill is a device for walking or running while staying in the same place. Treadmills were introduced before the development of powered machines, to harness the power of animals or humans to do work, often a type of mill that was operated by a person or animal treading steps of a treadwheel to grind grain. In later times treadmills were used as punishment devices for people sentenced to hard labour in prisons. The terms treadmill and treadwheel were used interchangeably for the power and punishment mechanisms.

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treadmill

Noun

  1. A piece of indoor sporting equipment used to allow for the motions of running or walking while staying in one place.
  2. A mill worked by persons treading upon steps on the periphery of a wide wheel having a horizontal axis. It is used principally as a means of prison discipline.
  3. A mill worked by horses, dogs, etc., treading an endless belt.


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: treadmill
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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