tramp

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A homeless person who travels from place to place and often begs for food or money.

   An old tramp was sleeping on the park bench.

2. 2
   verb

   To walk a long way, especially with slow, heavy steps.

   We tramped through the woods all afternoon.

3. 3
   noun

   The sound of heavy footsteps.

   We heard the tramp of soldiers' boots in the street.

From Middle English trampen (“to walk heavily”), from Middle Low German trampen (“to stamp”) (trampeln (“to walk with heavy steps”), see trample) or from Middle Dutch trampen (“to stamp”), from Proto-West Germanic *trampan (“to step”). Doublet of tremp. Cognate with Dutch trampen (“to stamp, kick, step”), dialectal German trampen (“to step, walk, tread”), whence commoner German trampeln (“to trample”). Probably related to trap.

Topics