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.
See Examples For:
Transit experts and airport officials believe the 2.25-mile electric train — a roughly $3.3-billion endeavor and the most anticipated project in LAX’s $30-billion overhaul — will significantly improve traffic at 1 World Way.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
Disruption caused by things like conflict – but also bad weather, strikes by airport or air traffic control staff, or other "extraordinary circumstances" – does not entitle you to extra compensation.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
In the new study, Zhou and colleagues used super-resolution imaging on neurons grown in the laboratory and found that the MPS behaves more like a cellular traffic controller, regulating all major forms of endocytosis.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026
Confirmed traffic through the strait fell to just 10 ships Monday, according to ship-tracking firm Kpler, compared with levels in the thirties and forties early last week.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
Josie could hear the traffic on the street outside—lots of early-morning laborers like her dad were already headed off to work.
From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
“You’re not going to earn our votes if you bring somebody who we feel traffics in language that is harmful to us,” he said.
From Slate ● Apr. 29, 2026
Consign Design traffics in luxury labels like Brunello, Prada, Gucci and Hermès, along with top-drawer skiwear, while Capelet Consign brims with AG, Theory, Veronica Beard and Ulla Johnson.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 3, 2025
He’s a young Tokyo laundry plant worker who in his downtime traffics in resold goods at exorbitant markups, with little care for their authenticity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2025
Although Netflix's action thriller “Black Doves” is set in London, it traffics in its version of this debate when two assassins and a civilian discuss their favorite Christmas movies to pass the time.
From Salon ● Dec. 7, 2024
Since everybody traffics in law for his own profit, we should like to do the same.
From Essays on Political Economy by Bastiat, Frédéric
David and Ally have yet to receive official confirmation from authorities that Marcus is one of the allegedly trafficked babies.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
Some commuters and bystanders documented encountering the group on public transit and in busy pedestrian areas, with social media posts describing confusion and unease during what was otherwise a heavily trafficked holiday weekend.
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
He is a defense attorney who became rich representing underworld figures, including right-wing paramilitary commanders who trafficked cocaine to U.S. cities and Alex Saab, the alleged money launderer for former Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
Around 12-15 million African men, women and children were captured and trafficked to the Americas to work as slaves from the 15-19th century.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2026
His large row house is trafficked by us rushing in and out, depositing papers, carrying file cabinets, computers, lamps, makeshift desks.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
He has a well-documented history of trafficking in conspiracy theories himself, which made his ambiguous invocation of federal involvement a kind of implicit validation to conspiracy theorists that there might be more to the story.
From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026
Interpol, which coordinated the effort alongside the EU's agency for law enforcement cooperation Europol and European border agency Frontex, said the operation's findings had exposed evolving trafficking routes and methods.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
They’re not trafficking in grievance or appealing to a particular political base.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
The algorithmic nature of social media platforms means that users who engage with wildlife trafficking accounts are offered up more.
From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026
COLIC: colicky frolic: frolicked, frolicker, frolicking GARLIC: garlicky mimic: mimicked, mimicking panic: panicked, panicking, panicky picnic: picnicked, picnicker, picnicking POLITICS: politicker, politicking traffic: trafficked, trafficker, trafficking playwright.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
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.
