traipse

English

WOTD – 14 November 2009

Likely from French trépasser (“pass over or beyond”).

traipse (third-person singular simple present traipses, present participle traipsing, simple past and past participle traipsed)

(intransitive) To walk in a messy or unattractively casual way; to trail through dirt.
- 1728, [Alexander Pope], “Book the Third”, in The Dunciad. An Heroic Poem. […], Dublin, London: […] A. Dodd, →OCLC, lines 140-144:
  Lo next two slipshod Muses traipse along, In lofty madness, meditating song, / With tresses staring from poetic dreams, / And never wash'd, but in Castalia’s streams [...].
(intransitive, colloquial) To walk about, especially when expending much effort, or unnecessary effort.
- 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses:
  After traipsing about in the fog they found the grave sure enough.
(intransitive, colloquial) To travel with purpose; usually a significant or tedious amount.
While you were traipsing round Africa, I had to take care of mum and dad!

So after all that work, I traipsed down to the shop to grab something to eat.
(transitive, colloquial) To walk (a distance or journey) wearily or with effort
- 1874, Thomas Hardy, Far From the Madding Crowd:
  She only got handy the Union-house on Sunday morning 'a b'lieve, and 'tis supposed here and there that she had traipsed every step of the way from Melchester.
(transitive, colloquial) to walk about or over (a place) aimlessly or insouciantly.

intransitive: to walk about

transitive: to walk about or over

traipse (plural traipses)

A long or tiring walk.
It was a long traipse uphill all the way home.
A meandering walk.
- 2021, Neal Stephenson, Termination Shock:
  it was an easy traipse down the rocky slope

long or tiring walk

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