traipse

present singular third person traipses · participle present traipsing · participle past traipsed · past traipsed · alternative trapes

1. intransitiveTo walk in a messy or unattractively casual way; to trail through dirt.

   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 [...].

   1728, [Alexander Pope], “Book the Third”, in The Dunciad. An Heroic Poem. […], Dublin; London: […] A. Dodd, →OCLC, lines 140-144

2. colloquialintransitiveTo walk about, especially when expending much effort, or unnecessary effort.

   After traipsing about in the fog they found the grave sure enough.

   1922, James Joyce, Ulysses

   1 more example

   ... if I was you, babylove, I wouldn't go traipsin [sic] over there.

   1948, Truman Capote, Other Voices, Other Rooms, Part One, 1

   Synonyms: gad, travel, walk

3. colloquialintransitiveTo travel with purpose; usually a significant or tedious amount.

   While you were traipsing round Africa, I had to take care of mum and dad!

   1 more example

   So after all that work, I traipsed down to the shop to grab something to eat.

4. colloquialtransitiveTo walk (a distance or journey) wearily or with effort

   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.

   1874, Thomas Hardy, Far From the Madding Crowd

5. colloquialtransitiveto walk about or over (a place) aimlessly or insouciantly.

plural traipses · alternative trapes

1. A long or tiring walk.

   It was a long traipse uphill all the way home.

   Synonyms: hike, trek

2. A meandering walk.

   it was an easy traipse down the rocky slope

   2021, Neal Stephenson, Termination Shock