Literary notes about treed (AI summary)
The word treed often appears in literature to depict a situation in which an animal—or even a person—is forced up into a tree, usually by pursuing dogs or a relentless enemy. In hunting narratives, for instance, it is used to describe the precise moment when a coon, lion, or cougar finds itself cornered among the branches [1], [2], [3]. Beyond its literal sense, treed can also carry a metaphorical tone, suggesting entrapment or an inescapable predicament, as when characters lament being figuratively “stuck” or caught off guard by unexpected dangers [4], [5]. Its colorful usage not only enhances the vividness of rural and wilderness settings but also enriches the dialogue with colloquial expressions that capture the immediacy and humor sometimes found in the chase [6], [7].
- Do not let your dog stay out hunting when the other dogs have treed a 'coon; make him come in and bark up the tree.
— from Hunting Dogs Describes in a Practical Manner the Training, Handling, Treatment, Breeds, Etc., Best Adapted for Night Hunting as Well as Gun Dogs for Daylight Sport by Oliver Hartley - Calvin was relating a story of a mountain-lion he had once treed for an Eastern artist to photograph.
— from The Captain of the Gray-Horse Troop by Hamlin Garland - “Well, I don’t live in Oregon,” Bennie replied, “but I know that when a bear is treed by a dog, he stays up the tree.
— from Boy Scouts at Crater LakeA Story of Crater Lake National Park and the High Cascades by Walter Prichard Eaton - But you must go away now, and not stand there looking at me, like a dog that has treed a cat."
— from Seed-time and Harvest: A Novel by Fritz Reuter - "Well, we're treed," remarked the lieutenant.
— from An Undivided Union by Oliver Optic - “Come, I tell you,” he added, sharply, “Well, girls, we treed him, anyhow, an' it was fun.
— from The Man of the Forest by Zane Grey - The whole gang of Lincolnite hellhounds are treed right up there, and not one of them shall get away alive.”
— from The Red Acorn by John McElroy
