traffic
Americannoun
-
the movement of vehicles, ships, persons, etc., in an area, along a street, through an air lane, over a water route, etc..
the heavy traffic on Main Street.
-
the vehicles, persons, etc., moving in an area, along a street, etc.
-
the transportation of goods for the purpose of trade, by sea, land, or air.
ships of traffic.
-
trade; buying and selling; commercial dealings.
-
trade between different countries or places; commerce.
-
the business done by a railroad or other carrier in the transportation of freight or passengers.
-
the aggregate of freight, passengers, telephone or telegraph messages, etc., handled, especially in a given period.
-
communication, dealings, or contact between persons or groups.
traffic between the Democrats and the Republicans.
-
mutual exchange or communication.
traffic in ideas.
-
trade in some specific commodity or service, often of an illegal nature.
the vast traffic in narcotics.
-
illegal commercial trade in human beings for the purpose of exploiting them.
the traffic in young children.
verb (used without object)
-
to carry on traffic, trade, or commercial dealings.
-
to trade or deal in a specific commodity or service, often of an illegal nature (usually followed byin ).
to traffic in opium.
verb (used with object)
-
(of vehicles or persons) to move over or through (a place).
It's a heavily trafficked bridge.
-
to trade or deal in (a commodity or service).
to traffic guns.
-
to trade in (human beings) for the purpose of exploitation.
He was convicted for trafficking illegal immigrants.
noun
-
-
the vehicles coming and going in a street, town, etc
-
( as modifier )
traffic lights
-
-
the movement of vehicles, people, etc, in a particular place or for a particular purpose
sea traffic
-
-
the business of commercial transportation by land, sea, or air
-
the freight, passengers, etc, transported
-
-
(usually foll by with) dealings or business
have no traffic with that man
-
trade, esp of an illicit or improper kind
drug traffic
-
the aggregate volume of messages transmitted through a communications system in a given period
-
the number of customers patronizing a commercial establishment in a given time period
verb
-
(often foll by in) to carry on trade or business, esp of an illicit kind
-
(usually foll by with) to have dealings
Synonym Usage
See trade.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
trafficsimple
-
trafficssimple
-
have traffickedperfect
-
has traffickedperfect
-
am traffickingprogressive
-
are traffickingprogressive
-
is traffickingprogressive
-
have been traffickingperfect progressive
-
has been traffickingperfect progressive
Past
-
traffickedsimple
-
had traffickedperfect
-
was traffickingprogressive
-
were traffickingprogressive
-
had been traffickingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of traffic
First recorded in 1495–1505; earlier traffyk, from Middle French trafique (noun), trafiquer; (verb) from Italian traffico (noun), trafficare (verb), of disputed origin
Explanation
If you drive during rush hour, you're likely to hit some heavy traffic, and if you get stuck in a big traffic jam, you'll definitely be late. It's not just cars that create traffic — a large number of anything trying to occupy the same space adds up to traffic. Internet providers may see a lot of traffic when there's big news and everyone is trying to sign on to find out what happened. Pedestrians also create traffic, like those walking past your new burrito palace and pet costume shop. While your business may be perfectly respectable, you would want to watch out for people who traffic stolen goods and illegal drugs. In that sense, traffic acts as a verb indicating you're trading something, often illegally.
Vocabulary lists containing traffic
"The Crucible" -- Vocabulary from all 4 Acts
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
"The Odyssey," Vocabulary from Part 1 of the epic poem
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
The complaints were linked to Tesla’s Autopilot system, as well as Full Self-Driving and Traffic Aware Cruise Control.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 2, 2026
Traffic through the waterway has collapsed, falling from 75 vessels last Wednesday to 22 on Sunday, according to commodities data provider Kpler.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 30, 2026
Traffic and crowds can sometimes hinder the search operations.
From BBC • Jun. 27, 2026
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is also looking into what happened.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 24, 2026
Traffic would be heavy on the bridge due to an accident, and because we were paid for travel time, we'd hope that the pileup involved at least one piece of heavy machinery.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
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.
