They are padding the street.
People are padding the street.
I came across this word recently. I'm not sure whether I understood the usage of it. The dictionary says it means "to travel on foot; walk." If that's the case, can I use this word in all the places I where I used the word "walk" or "walking". Does the word fit in my above sample sentences?
Why can't just use the word 'walk' instead? How does the word pad differs from walk? What difference it makes?
Best Answer
Actually, you can use "walk" instead, and for everyday usage, you should. This definition of "pad" is technically valid, but it is specialized and rarely used.
When I do see "pad" used this way, it is almost always referring to an animal, not a human. And not just any animal, but one with soft contact surfaces (i.e. pads) on the feet, such as dogs or bears. You would never use "pad" to describe the movement of a horse or chicken.
When used for a human, "pad" refers to a quiet and/or stealthy walk, not just any walk.
Not quite. If you do find a case where it makes sense to use pad, imagine how the sentence would be written with "walk" and then use the same form of "pad" in instead.
is incorrect because it is missing a preposition. Instead, you might say