tramp

¹ American  

[tramp] / træmp /

verb (used without object)

1. to tread or walk with a firm, heavy, resounding step.

2. to tread heavily or trample (usually followed by on orupon ).

   to tramp on a person's toes.

3. to walk steadily; march; trudge.

   They tramped wearily through the night.

4. to go on a walking excursion or expedition; hike.

   a beautiful day for tramping through the countryside.

5. to go about as a vagabond or tramp.

6. to make a voyage on a tramp steamer.

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verb (used with object)

1. to tramp or walk heavily or steadily through or over.

2. to traverse on foot.

   to tramp the streets.

3. to tread or trample underfoot.

   to tramp grapes.

4. to travel over as a tramp.

5. to run (a ship) as a tramp steamer.

noun

1. the act of tramping.

2. a firm, heavy, resounding tread.

3. the sound made by such a tread.

4. a long, steady walk; trudge.

5. a walking excursion or expedition; hike.

6. a person who travels on foot from place to place, especially a vagabond living on occasional jobs or gifts of money or food.

   Synonyms:

   hobo, bum, vagrant

7. a sexually promiscuous woman; prostitute.

8. a freight vessel that does not run regularly between fixed ports, but takes a cargo wherever shippers desire.

9. a piece of iron affixed to the sole of a shoe.

tramp ² American  

[tramp] / træmp /

noun

1. a trampoline.

   We learned some wicked pivots on the tramp today.

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verb (used without object)

1. to use a trampoline, especially with a tramp board.

   These are the boards preferred by professional water skiers who tramp as part of their training.

tramp British  

/ træmp /

verb

1. (intr) to walk long and far; hike

2. to walk heavily or firmly across or through (a place); march or trudge

3. (intr) to wander about as a vagabond or tramp

4. (tr) to make (a journey) or traverse (a place) on foot, esp laboriously or wearily

   to tramp the streets in search of work

5. (tr) to tread or trample

6. (intr) to walk for sport or recreation, esp in the bush

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noun

1. a person who travels about on foot, usually with no permanent home, living by begging or doing casual work

2. a long hard walk; hike

3. a heavy or rhythmic step or tread

4. the sound of heavy treading

5. Also called: tramp steamer.  a merchant ship that does not run between ports on a regular schedule but carries cargo wherever the shippers desire

6. slang a prostitute or promiscuous girl or woman

7. an iron plate on the sole of a boot

Other Word Forms

• tramper noun
• tramping noun
• trampish adjective
• trampishly adverb
• trampishness noun
• untramped adjective

Etymology

Origin of tramp¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English trampen “to walk heavily, stamp”; cognate with Low German trampen, Middle Dutch tramperen “to stamp”; akin to Gothic ana-trimpan “to press hard upon”; traipse, trample

Origin of tramp²

Shortening of trampoline ( def. )

Explanation

Tramp means to walk or stomp heavily. Your midnight tramp to the kitchen for milk and cookies doesn't thrill your downstairs neighbors. Tramp comes from the German trampen, for "stamp." If you walk heavily, people will say you tramp, but if you're going on a tramp, that means you're going for a long walk or hike. If someone calls you a tramp, they either mean you're a slut or a hobo — each meaning comes vagrant, or wanderer, and the low-life behaviors associated with vagrants.

Example Sentences

“Consider the Consequences” is a breezy, ironic tramp through the social rituals of the interwar period.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 14, 2025

Davidtz gets great mileage out of watching Bobo tramp around ordering Sarah to fix her something to eat.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 10, 2025

But tramp the same terrain, and you’ll soon know intimacy.

From Washington Post • Jan. 30, 2023

The near silence of the hall was occasionally broken as the officers standing vigil changed, with the precise tramp of boots echoing through the room.

From BBC • Sep. 14, 2022

There was a heavy tramp of boots in the passage.

From "1984" by George Orwell

Related Words

• gallop
• plod
• ramble
• roam
• slog
• traipse
• trample
• trudge