trudge

English

WOTD – 25 May 2006

Etymology

Mid-16th century. Original meaning was somewhat idiomatic, meaning "to walk using snowshoes." Probably of Scandinavian origin, compare Icelandic þrúga (“snowshoe”), Norwegian truga (“snowshoe”) and dialectal Swedish trudja (“snowshoe”).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation, US) IPA^(key): /tɹʌd͡ʒ/
Audio (US) (file)
Audio (AU) (file)
Rhymes: -ʌd͡ʒ

Noun

trudge (plural trudges)

A tramp, i.e. a long and tiring walk.
- 2020 September 9, Paul Clifton, “Heavy rainfall causes landslip in Hampshire: At the scene...”, in Rail, page 10:
  The morning after the landslip, with rain still pouring down, it was an unpleasant trudge through deep mud to get there.

Translations

long and tiring walk

Bulgarian: дълъг път m (dǎlǎg pǎt)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 長途跋涉／长途跋涉 (zh) (chángtúbáshè)
Finnish: vaivalloinen matka
French: marcher (fr)
German: stapfen (de)
Macedonian: долг пат m (dolg pat)
Portuguese: andar com dificuldade
Russian: ^{(please verify)} до́лгая и утоми́тельная прогу́лка f (dólgaja i utomítelʹnaja progúlka)
Tamil: உந்துதல் (ta) (untutal), நகர்தல் (ta) (nakartal)

Verb

trudge (third-person singular simple present trudges, present participle trudging, simple past and past participle trudged)

(intransitive) To walk wearily with heavy, slow steps.
- 2014, Paul Salopek, Blessed. Cursed. Claimed., National Geographic (December 2014)
  This famous archaeological site marks the farthest limit of human migration out of Africa in the middle Stone Age—the outer edge of our knowledge of the cosmos. I trudge to the caves in a squall.
(transitive) To trudge along or over a route etc.

Derived terms

trudger

Translations

to walk wearily with heavy, slow steps

Bulgarian: стъпвам тежко (stǎpvam težko), влача се (vlača se)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 吃力地行走 (chīlì de xíngzǒu)
Czech: plahočit se impf, vléci se impf
Danish: traske
Dutch: sloffen (nl)
Finnish: laahustaa (fi), tarpoa
French: crapahuter (fr)
German: sich schleppen (de), trotten (de), stapfen (de)
Japanese: 重い足取りで歩く (omoi ashidori de aruku), とぼとぼと歩く (tobotobo to aruku)
Macedonian: се вле́че (se vléče), ла́зи (lázi)
Portuguese: arrastar-se
Russian: тащи́ться (ru) (taščítʹsja), волочи́ться (ru) (voločítʹsja), ковыля́ть (ru) (kovyljátʹ), идти́ с трудо́м (idtí s trudóm), плестись (ru) (plestisʹ)
Swedish: stövla (sv)
Ukrainian: плентатися (plentatysja), плестися (plestysja), чалапати m (čalapaty), ледве йти (ledve jty)

References

Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967
“trudge”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.