trample
Americanverb (used without object)
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to tread or step heavily and noisily; stamp.
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to tread heavily, roughly, or crushingly (usually followed by on, upon, orover ).
to trample on a flower bed.
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to act in a harsh, domineering, or cruel manner, as if treading roughly (usually followed by on, upon, orover ).
to trample on another's feelings.
verb (used with object)
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to tread heavily, roughly, or carelessly on or over; tread underfoot.
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to domineer harshly over; crush.
to trample law and order.
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to put out or extinguish by trampling (usually followed byout ).
to trample out a fire.
noun
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the act of trampling.
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the sound of trampling.
verb
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to stamp or walk roughly (on)
to trample the flowers
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to encroach (upon) so as to violate or hurt
to trample on someone's feelings
noun
Other Word Forms
- trampler noun
- untrampled adjective
Etymology
Origin of trample
1350–1400; Middle English tramplen to stamp (cognate with German trampeln ); tramp, -le
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.
The FPA called on the police to "immediately take action against the officers involved in this unprovoked assault and to act in the future to safeguard press freedoms, rather than trample upon them."
From Barron's • Mar. 18, 2026
Not even the creature’s eloquence moves Victor to self-reflection: “O Frankenstein, be not equitable to every other, and trample upon me alone, to whom thy justice, and even thy clemency and affection, is most due.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 16, 2026
But urbanisation has seen encroachment onto these age-old grazing routes and locals accuse the Fulani of letting their cattle trample their crops and forcing them out of their homes and fields.
From BBC • Nov. 27, 2025
Still, the federal judiciary played an essential part in ensuring that state courts did not trample on voters' fundamental civil rights.
From Salon • Feb. 26, 2025
“We need to stay calm and escort these nice people out of the building before they trample one another. Jane, if you could get their attention?”
From "Dread Nation" by Justina Ireland
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.
