trudge
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
-
(intr) to walk or plod heavily or wearily
-
(tr) to pass through or over by trudging
noun
Synonym Usage
See pace 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
trudgesimple
-
trudgessimple
-
have trudgedperfect
-
has trudgedperfect
-
am trudgingprogressive
-
are trudgingprogressive
-
is trudgingprogressive
-
have been trudgingperfect progressive
-
has been trudgingperfect progressive
Past
-
trudgedsimple
-
had trudgedperfect
-
was trudgingprogressive
-
were trudgingprogressive
-
had been trudgingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of trudge
First recorded in 1540–50; perhaps blend of tread and drudge
Explanation
To trudge is to walk in a heavy, exhausted way. Your grandpa probably tells you about how he used to trudge six miles uphill through a foot of snow in the brutal cold every morning just to get to school. Trudge is also a noun that means a difficult, labored walk. If you take a mile-long trudge through heavy snow or mud, your steps will be slower and it will require more effort to put one foot in front of the other. Need help remembering what trudge means? Say it out loud. Trudge rhymes with sludge — and walking through sludge, or thick muck, would cause you to trudge.
Vocabulary lists containing trudge
List 3
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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.
See Examples For:
The job market continues to trudge along with little hiring and little firing.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 3, 2026
I certainly didn’t want to trudge back out to LaGuardia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026
On the now daily trudge to work through the snow and ice, I came across a mum and daughter scraping their car clear of heavy snow.
From BBC ● Jan. 9, 2026
“Although almost all of those still kind of trudge along in some state or another.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 26, 2025
As we trudge back through the woods, we reach a boulder, and both Gale and I turn our heads in the same direction, like a pair of dogs catching a scent on the wind.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
For now, Zombie LIV trudges on at a tournament in Mexico City that neither you or I are watching.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
“Benacerraf’s grand style,” he wrote, “captures the drama of subsistence in the face of nature,” adding that “the overwhelming beauty of the wide-open spaces contrasts with the workers’ burdened trudges through them.”
From New York Times ● Jun. 3, 2024
A disconsolate-looking Abdallah Sima trudges off - yet another injury problem for the Rangers manager.
From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2024
Nebbishy to the ninth, Paul trudges through the movie leading with his shiny white pate and enormous glasses, often wearing a parka whose gray fur lining might be an extension of his beard.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 9, 2023
Emma trudges towards her backpack, her sneaker laces flopping.
From "Wintergirls" by Laurie Halse Anderson
Half-time in Houston and Brazil's players trudged off knowing what the mood would be back home.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026
Worn down, he muted the show, handed it over to another host and trudged up the stairs to his office to do the math manually.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
In the fields beyond, a squash farmer trudged home, a sack slung over his shoulder heavy with his harvest.
From Barron's ● Apr. 22, 2026
The last of them, these spent survivors, these hangers-on, had trudged to the Citrus Show to talk about the real problem, which was the disease.
From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2026
Hour after hour, they trudged by, their heads down, their expressions sullen.
From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson
The largest beef processor in the U.S. by volume is among companies trudging through a nationwide cattle shortage that’s driving up prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 25, 2026
For all the times that feeding yourself feels like trudging through a fog of obligation, sometimes a craving arrives fully formed, as if it’s been plotting in the background.
From Salon ● Nov. 12, 2025
Johnson was dismissed in the 55th minute after clattering into Lopez, a needless challenge that initially earned a yellow card from Erik Lambrechts before VAR sent him trudging to the dressing room.
From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2025
Some told the BBC they battled hypothermia despite being dressed warmly while trudging along deep snow.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2025
It was a relief when the Guards had pounded out of sight and the rest could resume their introspective trudging.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
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.
