traffic
Americannoun
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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.
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the vehicles, persons, etc., moving in an area, along a street, etc.
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the transportation of goods for the purpose of trade, by sea, land, or air.
ships of traffic.
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trade; buying and selling; commercial dealings.
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trade between different countries or places; commerce.
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the business done by a railroad or other carrier in the transportation of freight or passengers.
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the aggregate of freight, passengers, telephone or telegraph messages, etc., handled, especially in a given period.
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communication, dealings, or contact between persons or groups.
traffic between the Democrats and the Republicans.
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mutual exchange or communication.
traffic in ideas.
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trade in some specific commodity or service, often of an illegal nature.
the vast traffic in narcotics.
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illegal commercial trade in human beings for the purpose of exploiting them.
the traffic in young children.
verb (used without object)
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to carry on traffic, trade, or commercial dealings.
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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)
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(of vehicles or persons) to move over or through (a place).
It's a heavily trafficked bridge.
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to trade or deal in (a commodity or service).
to traffic guns.
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to trade in (human beings) for the purpose of exploitation.
He was convicted for trafficking illegal immigrants.
noun
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the vehicles coming and going in a street, town, etc
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( as modifier )
traffic lights
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the movement of vehicles, people, etc, in a particular place or for a particular purpose
sea traffic
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the business of commercial transportation by land, sea, or air
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the freight, passengers, etc, transported
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(usually foll by with) dealings or business
have no traffic with that man
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trade, esp of an illicit or improper kind
drug traffic
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the aggregate volume of messages transmitted through a communications system in a given period
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the number of customers patronizing a commercial establishment in a given time period
verb
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(often foll by in) to carry on trade or business, esp of an illicit kind
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(usually foll by with) to have dealings
Related Words
See trade.
Other Word Forms
- intertraffic noun
- trafficker noun
- trafficless adjective
- untrafficked adjective
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
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.
Star Wars is one of a handful of big hitters that Disney relies on to bring in billions of dollars at movie theaters and maintain foot traffic at its theme parks.
From Barron's
Star Wars is one of a handful of big hitters that Disney relies on to bring in billions of dollars at movie theaters and maintain foot traffic at its theme parks.
From Barron's
Iranians don't need a visa to cross here, and officials say there is regular traffic back and forth.
From BBC
So many responded that traffic jams have brought roads in this part of rural Chongqing in south-west China to a standstill.
From BBC
Like other group behaviors, traffic exhibits statistical and stochastic patterns, with variations summed over vast regularity.
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.
