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):

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• Audio (General Australian):

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• Rhymes: -ʌdʒ

Noun

trudge (plural trudges)

1. 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) Dutch: please add this translation if you can Esperanto: marŝo Finnish: vaivalloinen matka French: marcher (fr) Galician: please add this translation if you can German: Stapfen n, Stapferei f, quälender Marsch m Greek: please add this translation if you can Hungarian: please add this translation if you can Italian: please add this translation if you can Korean: please add this translation if you can Macedonian: долг пат m (dolg pat) Norwegian: please add this translation if you can Portuguese: andar com dificuldade Russian: (please verify) до́лгая и утоми́тельная прогу́лка f (dólgaja i utomítelʹnaja progúlka) Serbo-Croatian: please add this translation if you can Spanish: marcha ardua f, caminata fatigosa f Swedish: please add this translation if you can Tamil: உந்துதல் (ta) (untutal), நகர்தல் (ta) (nakartal) Welsh: troediad m, helcyd m

Verb

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

1. (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.

2. (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 (cs) impf, vléci se impf Danish: traske Dutch: sloffen (nl) Finnish: laahustaa (fi), tarpoa (fi) French: crapahuter (fr) Galician: please add this translation if you can German: sich schleppen (de), trotten (de), stapfen (de) Greek: please add this translation if you can Hungarian: please add this translation if you can Italian: please add this translation if you can Japanese: 重い足取りで歩く (omoi ashidori de aruku), とぼとぼと歩く (tobotobo to aruku) Korean: please add this translation if you can Macedonian: се вле́че (se vléče), ла́зи (lázi) Mongolian: please add this translation if you can Norwegian: Bokmål: stampe, traske Portuguese: arrastar-se Russian: тащи́ться (ru) impf (taščítʹsja), волочи́ться (ru) impf (voločítʹsja), ковыля́ть (ru) impf (kovyljátʹ), идти́ с трудо́м (idtí s trudóm), плести́сь (ru) impf (plestísʹ), ча́пать (ru) impf (čápatʹ) Serbo-Croatian: please add this translation if you can Slovene: please add this translation if you can Spanish: caminar pesadamente / arduamente / dispendiosamente / fatigosamente / penosamente Swedish: elefanta (sv), stövla (sv) Ukrainian: плентатися (plentatysja), плестися (plestysja), чалапати m (čalapaty), ледве йти (ledve jty) Welsh: troedio (cy), ymlwybro (cy)

References

• “trudge” in Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary: Based on Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, 7th edition, Springfield, Mass.: G[eorge] & C[harles] Merriam, 1963 (1967 printing), →OCLC.
• “trudge”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.