Meaning of treat in English

treat

verb

/triːt/ uk

/triːt/

treat verb (DEAL WITH)

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B2 [ T usually + adv/prep ]

to behave toward someone or deal with something in a particular way:

My parents treated us all the same when we were kids.

He treated his wife very badly.

treat someone/something as if It's wrong to treat animals as if they had no feelings.

treat something with something I treat remarks like that with the contempt that they deserve.

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

to be about something

be aboutWhat is the story about?
have to do withWhat's that have to do with anything?
relate toThat relates to what I was saying earlier about the need for reform.
concernThe film concerns the complicated nature of marriage.
coverWe will cover the passive voice later in the course.
deal withWe will deal with the use of antidepressants in chapter three.

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More examplesFewer examples

Many companies still treat their management staff better than their workers.
You really should treat your parents with more respect.
These men's magazines just treat women as playthings.
We try to treat our students as individuals.
All information will be treated as strictly confidential.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Behaving, interacting and behavior

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treat verb (GIVE MEDICAL CARE)

B2 [ T ]

to use drugs, exercises, etc. to cure a person of a disease or heal an injury:

be treated for He is being treated for a rare skin disease.

treat a symptom Western medicine tends to treat the symptoms and not the cause.

More examplesFewer examples

The farmer called the vet out to treat a sick cow.
Laboratory tests suggest that the new drug may be used to treat cancer.
Two firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation.
At that time I worked in a small hospital where I was treating shell-shocked soldiers.
Antihistamine is often used to treat hay fever and insect bites.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Medical treatment: treating & caring for people

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treat verb (PAY FOR)

B2 [ T ]

to buy or pay for something for another person:

treat someone (to something) Put your money away - I'm going to treat you (to this).

treat yourself to something I'm going to treat myself to (= buy for myself) a new pair of sandals.

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

to buy something

buyI need to buy some new shoes.
getI need to go to the supermarket and get some bread.
purchaseShe purchased a new computer.
pick something upCan you just run to the store and pick up some eggs?

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SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Buying & selling - general words

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Paying money

treat verb (PUT ON)

[ T ]

to put a special substance on material such as wood, cloth, metal, etc. or put it through a special process, in order to protect it from damage or decay:

be treated with The material has been treated with resin to make it waterproof.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Covering and adding layers

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Industrial processing

Idioms

treat someone like dirt

treat someone like royalty

treat

noun

/triːt/ uk

/triːt/

treat noun (SOMETHING SPECIAL)

C2 [ C ]

a special and enjoyable occasion or experience, often a reward or celebration:

birthday treat We're going to Italy for the weekend - it's my birthday treat.

special treat As a special treat, I'll take you to my favorite restaurant.

[ C ]

something special that you buy because it makes you feel happy or brings happiness to someone else:

In an economic crisis, while sales of expensive luxuries decline, purchases of small treats - a new cosmetic, for example - increase.

A little posy of flowers is a delightful treat to give a friend.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Pleasure and happiness

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Celebrations, parties & special occasions

treat noun (TO EAT)

[ C ]

a type of food that is eaten in addition to your usual meals, usually something sweet:

There is a lot of competition with the sugar-filled and artificially flavored treats on the store shelves.

snacks and treats Try to encourage children not to eat too many of those snacks and treats that tend to pile on the pounds without providing much nutrition.

[ C ]

a small piece of food, often specially produced, that is given to pets in addition to their usual food, for example as a reward:

We offer a smart, healthy alternative to the highly processed, artificially flavored treats currently on the market.

dog treat The owner said the dog was dangerous, but when I fed it dog treats it would take them gently out of my hand.

cat treat Our gourmet cat treats are made with the highest quality of protein and grains.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Food - general words

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Sweets

Animal food

treat noun (PAY FOR)

my, your, etc. treat [ S ]

an occasion when I, you, etc. buy or pay for something for another person:

No, you paid for dinner last time - this is my treat.

Idiom

a treat

idiom UK informal

very well; with good results:

work a treat To prevent red wine from staining, put some salt on it - it works a treat.

go down a treat That soup went down a treat (= was very enjoyable)!

come up a treat I polished that old desk of grandma's and it came up a treat (= its appearance improved).

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Efficient and effective

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(Definition of treat from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

treat | Intermediate English

treat

verb

/trit/

treat verb (DEAL WITH)

Add to word list Add to word list

[ T always + adv/prep ]

to behave toward someone or deal with something in a particular way:

He treated his children badly.

She always tried to treat her students as/like adults.

treat verb (GIVE MEDICAL CARE)

[ T ]

to do something to improve the condition of an ill or injured person, or to try to cure a disease:

The hospital treats hundreds of patients a day.

The new drug may allow us to treat diabetes more effectively.

treat verb (PUT IN NEW CONDITION)

[ T ]

to change the condition of a substance by adding something to it or putting it through a special process:

The sewage is treated with chemicals before being dumped.

treat verb (PAY FOR)

[ I/T ]

to buy or pay for something for someone:

[ T ] I’m going to treat myself to a new pair of sunglasses.

Idioms

treat someone like dirt

treat someone with kid gloves

treat

noun

/trit/

treat noun (SPECIAL EXPERIENCE)

[ C ]

a special and enjoyable occasion or experience:

It was a real treat seeing my old friends last weekend.

treat noun (PAYMENT)

[ U ]

an occasion on which you pay for someone's food or entertainment:

You paid for the taxi, so lunch is my treat (= I will pay).

(Definition of treat from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

treat | Business English

treat

verb [ T ]

/triːt/ us

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to behave towards or think of someone or something in a particular way:

treat sb/sth as sth We must treat employees as allies in achieving change.

treat sb/sth equally/fairly/unfairly It very hard to prove that the company had been treated unfairly.

treat sb/sth like sth The company treated their initial public offering more like a marketing opportunity than a capital-raising exercise.

to deal with something in a particular way:

Each Fund is treated as a single tax entity.

The employment department said the unemployment figures should be treated with caution.

PRODUCTION

to put a special substance on something or put it through a special process, in order to protect it, clean it, or make it safe:

treat sth with sth We treat the material with resin to make it waterproof.

(Definition of treat from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of treat

treat

It's been a week, why not treat yourself?

From Huffington Post

It's a personal treat for me a lot of times.

From Chicago Daily Herald

They treat him like a baby instead of a man.

From New York Daily News

The show is a living, breathing thing, and you have to treat it like that.

From Los Angeles Times

Treat others the way you want to be treated.

From Huffington Post

He estimates he treated more than 300 people.

From NPR

Eli may actually have been treated unfairly by life.

From TIME

But leave yourself some room for letting go and having a treat now and then.

From Huffington Post

So we defined those things more like treating someone good or treating someone bad.

From CNN

In order to level the playing field for all everyone should be treated the same by our government.

From CNN

The "number needed to treat" in this case would be 100.

From TIME

I was blown away by the way people treated me.

From MLive.com

If not treated by cooling the body down, it can cause death.

From ABC News

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

What is the pronunciation of treat?

Translations of treat

in Chinese (Traditional)

對付, 對待, 給予治療…

in Chinese (Simplified)

对付, 对待, 给予治疗…

in Spanish

tratar, invitar a alguien (a algo), darse el gusto (de algo)…

in Portuguese

tratar, convidar alguém (para algo), dar-se ao luxo (de algo)…

in more languages

in Marathi

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in Italian

वागणूक देणे, उपचार देणे, खर्च करणे…

～を扱う, 待遇する, ～を治療する…

davranmak, muamele etmek, ele almak…

traiter, aborder, soigner…

tractar, regal, luxe…

behandelen, bewerken, trakteren…

ஒருவரிடம் நடந்து கொள்ள அல்லது ஒரு குறிப்பிட்ட வழியில் ஏதாவது சமாளிக்க, மருந்துகள், பயிற்சிகள் போன்றவற்றைப் பயன்படுத்த. ஒரு நோயால் பாதிக்கப்பட்ட நபரை குணப்படுத்த அல்லது காயத்தை குணப்படுத்த…

बर्ताव करना, (दवाई, व्यायाम आदि द्वारा) इलाज करना…

વર્તવું, ઉપચાર, ભેટ તરીકે કંઈક ખરીદવા અથવા ચૂકવવા માટે…

behandle, præparere, give…

behandla, bjuda, avhandla…

memperlakukan, merawat, belanja…

behandeln, (sich) spendieren, das Extravergnügen…