Meaning & use
trudge
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Meanings
verbintransitive
To walk with slow, heavy steps because you are tired, burdened or moving through something difficult like mud or snow.
Grammar: Usually followed by a direction word: trudge up the hill, trudge home.
Patterns
- trudge along
- trudge up/down something
- trudge through something
We trudged up the steep path with our heavy packs.
The children trudged home through the snow.
After the long shift she trudged to the bus stop.
verbtransitive
To walk slowly and wearily across or along a place.
Grammar: Takes a route or place as its object: trudge the streets.
Patterns
- trudge the streets
- trudge a distance
Hikers trudged the last mile in silence.
He trudged the muddy lanes looking for his lost dog.
Refugees trudged the dusty road for days.
nounsingular
A long, tiring walk taken with slow, heavy steps.
Grammar: Usually appears as a trudge: it was a long trudge to the village.
Patterns
- a trudge to somewhere
It was a long trudge back to the car.
The morning trudge to school felt endless in the rain.
After the trudge up the dune we rested.
Word forms
| third person singular | trudges |
|---|---|
| past tense | trudged |
| past participle | trudged |
| -ing form | trudging |
Common combinations
- trudge through the snow
- They trudged through the snow to reach the cabin.
- trudge up a hill
- He trudged up the hill with a bag of tools.
- trudge wearily
- The soldiers trudged wearily back to camp.
- trudge home
- She trudged home after the late shift.
- trudge through mud
- We trudged through mud for an hour.
Synonyms and how they differ
- plod
- Plod stresses steady, dull slowness and can also describe slow work, while trudge stresses heavy tired steps over rough ground.
- slog
- Slog suggests a hard grinding effort and is often used for work too, while trudge is more about the manner of walking.
- tramp
- Tramp suggests a long, heavy walk but with less sense of weariness than trudge.
- stroll
- Stroll is relaxed and pleasant, the opposite feeling to the tired effort in trudge.
Opposites
Word family
- slog noun
- a related word for a hard, tiring effort or walk
Commonly confused: trudge or trudgen?
trudge vs trudgen
A trudgen is a swimming stroke, not a way of walking, though the words look alike.
Practice
After the storm, the farmers ___ through deep mud to check on their animals.
Choose one answer.
Trudged suggests slow, heavy, tiring steps, which suits deep mud. Strolled, danced and glided suggest ease, so they do not fit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “trudge”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.