tramp

B2 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈtɹæmp/ See IPA manual

Freq #7566

Meanings

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

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

We tramped through the woods all afternoon.
3

noun
The sound of heavy footsteps.

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

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a homeless person who... bum hobo vagrant drifter

3 noun · the sound of heavy footsteps. trampling

Word family

Forms trampedtrampingtramps

Derived forms tramp-picktrample tromp

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

tramp steamer
a cargo steamship hired for voyages without a fixed regular route

Noun + noun

Etymology

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.

trampen Middle Dutch *trampan Proto-West Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# tramp

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈtɹæmp/
**Frequency rank:** 7566

## Meanings
1. A homeless person who travels from place to place and often begs for food or money.
2. To walk a long way, especially with slow, heavy steps.
3. The sound of heavy footsteps.

## Examples
- An old tramp was sleeping on the park bench.
- We tramped through the woods all afternoon.
- We heard the tramp of soldiers' boots in the street.

## Derived Forms
- tramp-pick
- trample
- tromp

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: trampen
- Root: *trampan

## Etymology
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.

## AI Etymology
Tramp is 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. In present-day use, it can mean a homeless person who travels from place to place and often begs for food or money, or to walk a long way, especially with slow, heavy steps.

## Topics
- People & Society

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