Treadmill

Definitions

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 was used principally as a means of prison discipline.
   historical
3. A mill worked by horses, dogs, etc., treading an endless belt.
4. A process or situation in which continued effort leads to or is required for remaining at a particular state or level without moving ahead.
   figuratively

Equivalents

Examples

“Their paternal house of Drummington, Foker could very seldom be got to visit⟳. He swore he had rather go on the treadmill than stay⟳ there.”

“Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy⟳ a meal around a campfire, had to collect⟳ wood and then spend⟳ time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn⟳ grist into meal.”

“1 As a result⟳, people can easily find⟳ themselves alternating between various treadmills: the hedonic treadmill of pursuing happiness, the status treadmill requiring conspicuous consumption, and the treadmill of work⟳ undertaken to finance one's activity on the other two treadmills.”

“Elizabeth Schor (1999) has long argued that this status treadmill, even if not universal, has worked to “ratchet” global conceptualizations of need⟳ and desire upward over time.”

CEFR level