traipse
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
noun
Usage
Where does the word traipse come from? Traipse generally means "to wander aimlessly or idly while never reaching one's goal," as in Last night, they traipsed all over town trying to find a store that was still open.Well, you'll certainly wander aimlessly if you try to find the origin of the word traipse.The word is first recorded around 1585–95. It could be related to the verb tramp, and one can definitely traipse, or "walk over," something, such as fields or flowers. An alternative theory connects traipse to trespass, which originates from French.Traipse isn’t alone: it finds lots of company in other English words that seem simple but whose origins are not. Discover more in our slideshow “‘Dog,’ ‘Boy,’ And Other Words That We Don’t Know Where They Came From."
Etymology
Origin of traipse
First recorded in 1585–95; earlier trapse, unexplained variant of trape, of disputed origin; perhaps obscurely akin to tramp
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A musk ox of his refinement cannot spend the day traipsing up and down, getting his fur all sweaty and unmanageable.
From Literature
So in order to fly the tricolore in Milan, they would have had to give up their multimillion NHL salaries and spend a couple seasons traipsing around the Alps for virtually nothing.
I can see it in her eyes as we traipse down the street.
From Literature
The kind of bowl you crave after traipsing home through slushy streets with cold fingers.
From Salon
“I had to come downstairs late at night in my pajamas to a kitchen filled with six people and traipse through them,” Glusac, a writer, said.
From MarketWatch
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
