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 (General Australian):

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• Rhymes: -ʌd͡ʒ

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)[1]

     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
• 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: please add this translation if you can
• Portuguese: arrastar-se
• Russian: тащи́ться (ru) (taščítʹsja), волочи́ться (ru) (voločítʹsja), ковыля́ть (ru) (kovyljátʹ), идти́ с трудо́м (idtí s trudóm), плестись (ru) (plestisʹ)
• 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: stövla (sv)
• Ukrainian: плентатися (plentatysja), плестися (plestysja), чалапати m (čalapaty), ледве йти (ledve jty)
• Welsh: troedio (cy), ymlwybro (cy)

References

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