tramp Hear it!

tramp Definition

tramp (tramp)

intransitive verb

    1. to walk with heavy steps
    2. to step heavily; stamp to tramp on someone's foot
    1. to travel about on foot; trudge; hike
    2. to travel as or like a vagabond, hobo, etc.

Etymology: ME trampen < or akin to LowG trampen, to trample < nasalized form of the base in trap

transitive verb

  1. to step on firmly and heavily; trample
  2. to walk or ramble through

noun

  1. a person who travels about on foot, esp. one doing odd jobs or begging for a living; hobo; vagrant
  2. the sound of heavy steps, as of people marching
  3. the act of tramping; esp., a journey on foot; hike
  4. a freight ship that has no regular schedule, arranging for cargo, passengers, and ports of call as it goes along
  5. an iron plate on the sole of a shoe to protect it, to prevent slipping, etc.
  6. Slang a woman who is sexually promiscuous

tramp Related Forms
tramp′er noun
tramp Synonyms

tramp

n.

  1. A vagrant

    vagabond, vagrant, wanderer, bum, hobo, outcast, panhandler, drifter, derelict, hitchhiker, gypsy, loafer, unemployable, yegg*, rail-rider*, knight of the road*, moocher*, bo, flipper; see also beggar 1.

  2. Heavy footfalls

    trample, march, stamping, stomping, treading, gallop, pounding, hoofing*, gallumphing*; see also step 1, tread.

  3. A long walk, often in rough country

    hike, ramble, tour, march, turn, stroll, saunter, excursion, expedition, walking trip, stretch*, shin*, mush*; see also walk 3.

  4. Prostitute

    whore, harlot, slut; see prostitute.

vagrant refers to a person without a fixed home who wanders about from place to place, with no regular means of support, and in legal usage, implies such a person regarded as a public nuisance, subject to arrest; vagabond, orig. implying shiftlessness, rascality, etc., now often connotes no more than a carefree, roaming existence; tramp, bum, and hobo are informal equivalents for the preceding, but bum always connotes an idle, dissolute, often alcoholic person who never works, tramp and hobo connote a vagrant, whether one who lives by begging or by doing odd jobs; hobo now also means a migratory laborer

tramp Synonyms

tramp

v.

  1. To tread heavily

    march, stamp, gallop, pound, stomp, tread, trample, trip, hop, do a jig, hoof it*, galumph around*; see also walk 1.

  2. To wander afoot

    hike, stroll, ramble, tour, walk about, take a turn, go on a walking tour, explore the countryside; see also march, walk 1.

tramp Usage Examples

Object

  • street: We'd tramp the streets selling at I think 10p a ticket.
  • mile: After tramping a mile they reached a wide vacancy on the deserted wharves, and in this dark and rainy desert they parted.
  • round: Mark has been tramping round Edinburgh City center for days now.

Converse of object

  • hear: Then we heard the tramp of men on the drive the other side of the house.
  • pass: A passing tramp sees them through the window, the blind of which is only half down.

Adjective modifier

  • drunken: For company, rowdy youths sometimes play football near my feet and I have had a drunken tramp or two sit on my head.
  • old: There was, however an old tramp sat by the side of the road.
  • little: Aside from the ' little tramp ' Chaplin often played frock-coated villains.
  • long: Perfect for lunch before a long tramp around the park.
  • local: Look, they're MY local tramps, not yours.

Modifies a noun

  • steamer: The mining ship ' Red Dwarf ' is an old tramp steamer, working around the moons of Saturn.
  • shipping: The collections comprise objects from all over Wales but there is a leaning toward Cardiff's once-extensive tramp shipping industry.
  • ward: The tramp ward had a row of cells used for stone-breaking.

Modifying Another Word

  • back: Tramping back to the man's house they found the battered body of the man's wife.
  • then: They then tramped northwards through thick pine forests, hoping to jump on a boat to Sweden.

Followed by an intransitive particle

  • around: Tramping around in snow I usually use trainers I don't care about.
  • off: Once everyone had rolled out an obligatory joke about the joy rides we tramped off to find the course.

Followed by a transitive particle

  • down: The mist seemed to be getting thicker as the man slowly tramped down the road.

Preposition: of

  • foot: I was still gazing, when there came a sudden brisk tramp of feet in time and clash of steel behind me.
  • horse: There was the sound of wheels, and the tramp of many horses, and the voices of a large company.
tramp Quotes

  I get too hungry for dinner at eight. I like the theater, but never come late. I never bother with people I hate. That's why the lady is a tramp.

—Hart, Lorenz

Browse dictionary entries near tramp

  1. ‹ tramontane
  2. ‹ trammel
  3. ‹ tram
  4. ‹ Tralee
  5. ‹ trajectory
  6. ‹ traject
  7. ‹ Trajan
  8. ‹ traitress
  9. ‹ traitorous
  10. ‹ traitor
  1. tramp steamer ›
  2. trample ›
  3. trampoline ›
  4. tramroad ›
  5. tramway ›
  6. tran- ›
  7. trance ›
  8. tranche ›
  9. trank ›
  10. tranquil ›