"treadles" in the noun sense
1. pedal, treadle, foot pedal, foot lever
a lever that is operated with the foot
"treadles" in the verb sense
1. treadle
tread over
"the brick maker treadles over clay to pick out the stones"
2. treadle
operate (machinery) by a treadle
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
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