traipse

or trapes

[treyps]Informal.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR traipse ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object), traipsed, traips·ing.

to walk or go aimlessly or idly or without finding or reaching one's goal: We traipsed all over town looking for a copy of the book.

verb (used with object), traipsed, traips·ing.

to walk over; tramp: to traipse the fields.

noun

a tiring walk.

Origin of traipse

1585–95; earlier trapse, unexplained variant of trape, obscurely akin to tramp

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for traipsing

trudge, strut, plod, lumber, prance, roam, meander, amble, wander, stroll, traverse, march, parade, pace, hike, tour, promenade, stride, step, troop

Examples from the Web for traipsing

Contemporary Examples of traipsing

Some are traipsing around on their own, trash crackling beneath their feet.
Gay Syrian Blogger a Hoax?
Asne Seierstad
June 6, 2011
Traipsing the Biennale and the numerous collaterals has been at once ho-hum and encouraging.
My Biennale Favorites
Anthony Haden-Guest
June 8, 2009

Historical Examples of traipsing

After traipsing about in the fog they found the grave sure enough.
Ulysses
James Joyce
All the rest of it traipsing about from place to place like a wandering gipsy.
The Man Who Was Good
Leonard Merrick
"I don't see what you want to be traipsing about after dark for," said Marilla shortly.
Anne Of Green Gables
Lucy Maud Montgomery
Nice clothes I shall get, too, traipsing through weather like this.
Eighth Reader
James Baldwin
Could they have wandered up the hill road,—the discontented, "traipsing," exasperating things?
The Village Watch-Tower
(AKA Kate Douglas Riggs) Kate Douglas Wiggin

British Dictionary definitions for traipsing

traipse

trapes

informal

verb

(intr) to walk heavily or tiredly

noun

a long or tiring walk; trudge

Word Origin for traipse

C16: of unknown origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for traipsing

traipse

1590s, of uncertain origin, perhaps from dialectal French trepasser "pass over or beyond," from Old French trespasser (see trespass). Or from a source related to Middle Dutch trappen, dialectal Norwegian trappa "to tread, stamp" (see trap). Liberman points out that it resembles German traben "tramp" "and other similar verbs meaning 'tramp; wander; flee' in several European languages. They seem to have been part of soldiers' and vagabonds' slang between 1400 and 1700. In all likelihood, they originated as onomatopoeias and spread to neighboring languages from Low German." Related: Traipsed; traipsing.