traveler
Americannoun
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travelers
plural
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a person or thing that travels.
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a person who travels or has traveled in distant places or foreign lands.
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part of a mechanism constructed to move in a fixed course.
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Textiles. (in ring spinning) a small metal device that moves rapidly around the ring and guides the yarn onto the revolving bobbin.
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Nautical.
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a metal ring or thimble fitted to move freely on a rope, spar, or rod.
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Also called horse. the rope, spar, or rod itself.
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Theater. Also traveler curtain. a transverse curtain opened by being drawn from both sides of the proscenium.
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(often initial capital letter) a member of any of a number of traditionally itinerant peoples of the British Isles and other English-speaking areas, including, in addition to people of Romani origin, Indigenous groups such as the speakers of Shelta.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of traveler
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English travaillour; see travel, -er 1
Explanation
If you take frequent trips across the country or around the world, you are a traveler. Take a plane to Mexico, and all the other passengers are travelers, just like you. Some people travel often, for work or fun, and they are travelers. Even if you're leaving your hometown for the very first time, you're considered a traveler while you are traveling. The trick to this word is that it sounds like it should have two Ls (and in Canada and the U.K., it's spelled traveller), but in the U.S. there's only one.
Vocabulary lists containing traveler
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:
As a traveler, he was straining for an ideal, something still unrealized, that would inspire his countrymen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
For the poor in spirit, he was a fellow traveler.
From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2026
An activist, journalist, and relentless traveler who said she went for 20 years without spending more than eight consecutive days in her New York apartment, Steinem described herself as “an entrepreneur of social change.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
That said, I’m not your average traveler, with 45 flights logged so far this year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
During his extracurricular reading about Peru, he came across a passage by Pedro Cieza de Leon, the Spanish traveler who observed three roads between the same two cities.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Executives have said so far, they have been able to push fares higher without damaging demand, and they don’t expect the prices to keep holiday travelers away.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2026
Airlines have passed along some of the energy-cost burden to travelers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2026
Caltrans said several investigations concluded the bridge is safe for travelers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
Experts and safety advocates say travelers shouldn’t take an airline’s decision to fly as a guarantee of a route’s safety.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026
An hour later, just before dawn, the travelers heard a soft whooshing noise above their heads and they glanced up and saw an immense gray batlike creature swooping down toward them out of the dark.
From "James and the Giant Peach" by Roald Dahl
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