treat
verb 1 behave towards or deal with in a certain way. 2 give medical care or attention to. 3 apply a process or a substance to. 4 present or discuss (a subject). 5 (treat to) provide (someone) with (food, drink, or entertainment) at ones expense. 6 (treat oneself) do or have something very pleasurable. 7 (treat with) negotiate terms with. noun 1 a surprise gift, event, etc. that gives great pleasure. 2 (ones treat) an act of treating someone to something. PHRASES &em;&em; a treat Brit. informal doing something specified very well: their tactics worked a treat. DERIVATIVES treatable adjective treater noun. ORIGIN Old French traitier, from Latin trahere draw, pull.
Perform another search of the Compact Oxford English Dictionary
About this dictionary
The Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English contains 145,000 words, phrases, and definitions.
Find out more about Oxford's range of English dictionaries
Sign up for the AskOxford Word of the Day
Search the Little Oxford Dictionary of Quotations
Search the Concise Dictionary of First Names
|