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trample

[tram-puh l]
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verb (used without object), tram·pled, tram·pling.
  1. to tread or step heavily and noisily; stamp.
  2. to tread heavily, roughly, or crushingly (usually followed by on, upon, or over): to trample on a flower bed.
  3. to act in a harsh, domineering, or cruel manner, as if treading roughly (usually followed by on, upon, or over): to trample on another's feelings.
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verb (used with object), tram·pled, tram·pling.
  1. to tread heavily, roughly, or carelessly on or over; tread underfoot.
  2. to domineer harshly over; crush: to trample law and order.
  3. to put out or extinguish by trampling (usually followed by out): to trample out a fire.
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noun
  1. the act of trampling.
  2. the sound of trampling.
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Origin of trample

1350–1400; Middle English tramplen to stamp (cognate with German trampeln); see tramp, -le
Related formstram·pler, nounun·tram·pled, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

crushviolateinjureoverwhelmstompsquashhurtinfringeflattenencroachoverridepoundtreadstampbruisegrindtramptromp

Examples from the Web for trampled

Historical Examples

  • Trampled vegetation showed them the path to the firing place.

    The Flaming Mountain

    Harold Leland Goodwin

  • Trampled by the buffalo, every bush and low tree had been stripped bare.

    Scouting with Daniel Boone

    Everett T. Tomlinson

  • Trampled down by the ignoble feet of strangers, its springs still retain force enough to restore itself.

    English Past and Present

    Richard Chevenix Trench

  • Trampled upon, broken-spirited, and as if that's not enough, in my idiocy I must needs fall in love!

    The Storm

    Aleksandr Nicolaevich Ostrovsky

  • Trampled upon by the terrified horses and wounded by the arrows, they lay writhing on the ground in agony.

British Dictionary definitions for trampled

trample

verb (when intr, usually foll by on, upon, or over)
  1. to stamp or walk roughly (on)to trample the flowers
  2. to encroach (upon) so as to violate or hurtto trample on someone's feelings
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noun
  1. the action or sound of trampling
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Derived Formstrampler, noun

Word Origin

C14: frequentative of tramp; compare Middle High German trampeln
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 trampled

trample

v.

late 14c., "to walk heavily," frequentative form of tramp. Transitive sense is first found 1520s. Related: Trampled; trampling.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper