trek
Americanverb (used without object)
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to travel or migrate slowly or with difficulty, often through rough or unsettled territory.
He managed to escape from a Siberian labor camp and trekked to Iran, a three-year journey.
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to hike long distances as a recreational activity, especially over rough terrain.
He's trekked through the Himalayas and summited Mt. Kilimanjaro.
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to make a short but difficult trip on foot.
We trekked back to our hotel in the pouring rain.
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South Africa. to travel by ox wagon.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a slow or difficult journey, hike, or trip.
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South Africa.
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a migration or expedition, especially by ox wagon.
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a stage of such a journey, between one stopping place and the next.
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noun
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a long and often difficult journey
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a journey or stage of a journey, esp a migration by ox wagon
verb
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(intr) to make a trek
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(tr) (of an ox, etc) to draw (a load)
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of trek
First recorded in 1845–50; from Afrikaans and Dutch noun trek “a tug, pull, march”; verb from Afrikaans trek “to draw, pull, migrate,” from Dutch trekken
Explanation
Want to go on a trek through the mountains? Make sure you have good shoes, drinking water, and snacks. A trek is a long and difficult journey. The word trek implies an extended trip that is hard — a climb up a mountain or a journey through dense forests. In Star Trek, the crew of the Enterprise is on a journey through space that will last a long time. You wouldn't say that you took a trek to the corner grocery unless you had to fight through three feet of snow to get there.
Vocabulary lists containing trek
President Obama's Farewell Address
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Stargirl
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The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
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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.
That people make the trek is a sign of the animals’ global popularity.
From Slate • May 27, 2026
Any long-distance trek is as much an internal journey as it is external.
From Los Angeles Times • May 25, 2026
Daniel Labs and his three friends from Germany are laden down with large rucksacks as they are camping on the trek.
From BBC • May 20, 2026
Jobs may have been a leading preacher of Silicon Valley’s gospel of failure as a steppingstone to success, but his own self-indulgence nearly turned NeXT into a trek to nowhere.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 17, 2026
I hop into my seat at the front of the bus as he starts yelling about the last two hours of our trek and to let our parents know now so they can coordinate pickups.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
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.
