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trucking1

[truhk-ing]
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noun
  1. the art or business of conveying articles or goods on trucks.
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Origin of trucking1

First recorded in 1800–10; truck1 + -ing1

trucking2

[truhk-ing]
noun
  1. the growing of vegetables for the market.
  2. commercial bartering.
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Origin of trucking2

First recorded in 1585–95; truck2 + -ing1

truck1

[truhk]
noun
  1. any of various forms of vehicle for carrying goods and materials, usually consisting of a single self-propelled unit but also often composed of a trailer vehicle hauled by a tractor unit.
  2. any of various wheeled frames used for transporting heavy objects.
  3. Also called hand truck. a barrowlike frame with low wheels, a ledge at the bottom, and handles at the top, used to move heavy luggage, packages, cartons, etc.
  4. a low, rectangular frame on which heavy boxes, crates, trunks, etc., are moved; a dolly.
  5. a tiered framework on casters.
  6. a group of two or more pairs of wheels in one frame, for supporting one end of a railroad car, locomotive, etc.
  7. Movies. a dolly on which a camera is mounted.
  8. British. a freight car having no top.
  9. a small wooden wheel, cylinder, or roller, as on certain old-style gun carriages.
  10. Nautical. a circular or square piece of wood fixed on the head of a mast or the top of a flagstaff, usually containing small holes for signal halyards.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to transport by truck.
  2. to put on a truck.
  3. dolly(def 11).
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verb (used without object)
  1. to convey articles or goods on a truck.
  2. to drive a truck.
  3. dolly(def 12).
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adjective
  1. of, relating to, or for a truck or trucks: a truck drive; truck tires.
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Origin of truck1

1605–15; back formation from truckle wheel. See truckle2
Related formstruck·a·ble, adjective

truck2

[truhk]
noun
  1. vegetables raised for the market.
  2. miscellaneous articles of little worth; odds and ends.
  3. Informal. trash or rubbish: That's a lot of truck.
  4. Informal. dealings: I'll have no truck with him.
  5. barter.
  6. a bargain or deal.
  7. the payment of wages in goods instead of money.
  8. truck system.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to exchange; trade; barter.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to exchange commodities; barter.
  2. to traffic; have dealings.
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Origin of truck2

1175–1225; Middle English trukien to exchange < Old French troquer to exchange

truck3

[truhk]
noun
  1. a shuffling jitterbug step.
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verb (used without object)
  1. to dance with such steps.
  2. Slang. to walk or stroll, especially in a jaunty manner: trucking down the avenue on a Sunday afternoon.
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Origin of truck3

First recorded in 1935–40; special use of truck1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for trucking

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Duval had carried many messages for them and also done some trucking.

    The Rover Boys on a Hunt

    Arthur M. Winfield (Edward Stratemeyer)

  • When the dry weather sets in—about April or May—trucking commences.

    The Western World

    W.H.G. Kingston

  • When the rains commence, the roads are impassable, and all trucking ceases.

    The Western World

    W.H.G. Kingston

  • I'm not in the habit of trucking with other people's belongings.

  • Nothing in the trucking way but mostly for society and circus uses.

    The Shriek

    Charles Somerville

British Dictionary definitions for trucking

trucking1

noun
  1. mainly US and Canadian the transportation of goods by lorry
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trucking2

noun
  1. Also called: truck farming, (Brit, Austral., NZ, and South African) market gardening US and Canadian the business of growing fruit and vegetables on a commercial scale
  2. commercial exchange; barter
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truck1

noun
  1. British a vehicle for carrying freight on a railway; wagon
  2. US, Canadian and Australian a large motor vehicle designed to carry heavy loads, esp one with a flat platformAlso called (esp in Britain): lorry
  3. a frame carrying two or more pairs of wheels and usually springs and brakes, attached under an end of a railway coach, etc
  4. nautical
    1. a disc-shaped block fixed to the head of a mast having sheave holes for receiving signal halyards
    2. the head of a mast itself
  5. any wheeled vehicle used to move goods
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verb
  1. to convey (goods) in a truck
  2. (intr) mainly US and Canadian to drive a truck
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Word Origin

C17: perhaps shortened from truckle ²

truck2

noun
  1. commercial goods
  2. dealings (esp in the phrase have no truck with)
  3. commercial exchange
  4. archaic payment of wages in kind
  5. miscellaneous articles
  6. informal rubbish
  7. US and Canadian vegetables grown for market
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verb
  1. archaic to exchange (goods); barter
  2. (intr) to traffic or negotiate
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Word Origin

C13: from Old French troquer (unattested) to barter, equivalent to Medieval Latin trocare, 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 trucking

truck

n.

"vehicle," 1610s, "small wheel" (especially one on which the carriages of a ship's guns were mounted), probably from Latin trochus "iron hoop," from Greek trokhos "wheel," from trekhein "to run" (see truckle (n.)). Sense extended to "cart for carrying heavy loads" (1774), then in American English to "motor vehicle for carrying heavy loads" (1913), a shortened form of motor truck in this sense (1901).

There have also been lost to the enemy 6,200 guns, 2,550 tanks and 70,000 trucks, which is the American name for lorries, and which, I understand, has been adopted by the combined staffs in North-West Africa in exchange for the use of the word petrol in place of gasolene. [Winston Churchill, address to joint session of U.S. Congress, May 19, 1943]

Truck stop is attested from 1956.

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truck

v.1

"to exchange, barter," early 13c., from Old North French troquer "to barter, exchange," from Medieval Latin trocare "barter," of unknown origin. Rare before 1580. Sense of "have dealings with" is first recorded 1610s. The noun is first recorded 1550s, "act or practice of barter." Sense of "vegetables raised for market" is from 1784, preserved in truck farm (1866).

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truck

v.2

"to convey on a truck," 1809, from truck (n.). Verbal meaning "dance, move in a cool way," first attested 1935, from popular dance of that name in U.S., supposedly introduced at Cotton Club, 1933. Related: Trucked; trucking.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with trucking

truck

see have no truck with.

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.