trudge
Americanverb (used without object)
-
trudges,
present (3rd person singular)
-
trudged,
past participle, past
-
trudging
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
trudges,
present (3rd person singular)
-
trudged,
past participle, past
-
trudging
present participle
noun
-
trudges
plural
verb
-
(intr) to walk or plod heavily or wearily
-
(tr) to pass through or over by trudging
noun
Synonym Usage
See pace 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
trudgesimple
-
trudgessimple
-
have trudgedperfect
-
has trudgedperfect
-
am trudgingprogressive
-
are trudgingprogressive
-
is trudgingprogressive
-
have been trudgingperfect progressive
-
has been trudgingperfect progressive
Past
-
trudgedsimple
-
had trudgedperfect
-
was trudgingprogressive
-
were trudgingprogressive
-
had been trudgingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of trudge
First recorded in 1540–50; perhaps blend of tread and drudge
Explanation
To trudge is to walk in a heavy, exhausted way. Your grandpa probably tells you about how he used to trudge six miles uphill through a foot of snow in the brutal cold every morning just to get to school. Trudge is also a noun that means a difficult, labored walk. If you take a mile-long trudge through heavy snow or mud, your steps will be slower and it will require more effort to put one foot in front of the other. Need help remembering what trudge means? Say it out loud. Trudge rhymes with sludge — and walking through sludge, or thick muck, would cause you to trudge.
Vocabulary lists containing trudge
List 3
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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.
See Examples For:
We trudge through entire chapters bearing names like “The Sea and the Desert” or “The Beach Again” without meeting another living soul.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
The job market continues to trudge along with little hiring and little firing.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 3, 2026
The question now, as the Trojans trudge ahead without Watkins, is where USC might be next March, with Smith, Howell and Heckel presumably leading the way.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2025
Weary residents trudge through the streets as bulldozers try to scoop up the liquid mess.
From BBC ● Nov. 15, 2024
Jack still said nothing, and there was nothing to do but trudge through the snow to the woods.
From "Breadcrumbs" by Anne Ursu
On a cold November morning, designer Isaac Mizrahi gets up, leaves his apartment, and trudges to the corner newsstand to pick up a copy of Women’s Wear Daily.
From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2026
In a country better known for industrial farming, highly processed food and suspiciously long-lasting bread, Chuck Childers rises before dawn and trudges off to operate one of America's oldest functioning gristmills.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
For now, Zombie LIV trudges on at a tournament in Mexico City that neither you or I are watching.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
A disconsolate-looking Abdallah Sima trudges off - yet another injury problem for the Rangers manager.
From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2024
A stout Latino man in a black sport coat trudges through the automatic sliding doors.
From "Amina's Voice" by Hena Khan
Pedestrians in plastic rain ponchos trudged through murky floodwaters in Bangkok's east -- knee-deep in some areas of a grocery store parking lot -- floating their belongings in plastic tubs alongside them, AFP journalists saw.
From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026
Wodehouse caper: “Jacqui Cutler trudged into her expansive kitchen, looking every bit as worn out and miserable as someone who had spent the morning digging potatoes, which she most certainly had not.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
Two elephants trudged across a makeshift football field at Mexico's Guadalajara Zoo in a whacky attempt to predict the score of the 2026 World Cup's opening game.
From Barron's ● Jun. 6, 2026
Earlier this year, 27,000 runners trudged through the city on a course that wound from Dodger Stadium to Century City.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2026
Taran trudged silently, his head bowed against the bitter wind.
From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander
The largest beef processor in the U.S. by volume is among companies trudging through a nationwide cattle shortage that’s driving up prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 25, 2026
For all the times that feeding yourself feels like trudging through a fog of obligation, sometimes a craving arrives fully formed, as if it’s been plotting in the background.
From Salon ● Nov. 12, 2025
Johnson was dismissed in the 55th minute after clattering into Lopez, a needless challenge that initially earned a yellow card from Erik Lambrechts before VAR sent him trudging to the dressing room.
From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2025
And, after George Springer grounded into a fielder’s choice, brought Roberts trudging back out to the mound.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2025
“No matter what you think about this hotel, I will not have you trudging all that muck through my lobby into your rooms.”
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
