Standard Lemma guide

tramp

noun · verb · 27 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ˈtɹæmp/
  • [ˈtɹeə̯mp] ~ [ˈtɹɛə̯mp] US, Canada, æ-raising
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australian: /ˈtɹæːmp/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • [ˈtɹeːmp] ~ [ˈtɹɛːmp] Australian, æ-raising
  • British, Midlands, Northern-England, Southern, Standard: /ˈtɹamp/
  • Scotland, Wales: /ˈtɾamp/
  • rhymes with -æmp
  • CMU ARPABET: T R AE1 M P Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The act of walking with heavy steps.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A homeless person; a vagabond.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: derogatory, sometimes

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bum, hobo, vagabond, stiff, casual, clochard, derelict, dero, down-and-out, down-and-outer, drifter, epithite, floater, gadling, Jack out of doors, knight of the road, landleaper, landloper, landlouper, nomad, paker, palliard, pike, piker, ranger, rogue, rolling stone, rough sleeper, scatterling, skelder, skell, stroller, stumblebum, swagman, swaggie, toerag, tramp, truant, vagrant, wanderer, waif, yagger

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A disreputable, promiscuous woman; a slut.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: derogatory

Examples

  • I can't believe you'd let yourself be seen with that tramp.
  • Claudia is such a tramp; making out with all those men when she has a boyfriend.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: NB: All terms are usually pejorative unless stated otherwise., 304, alley cat, alleycat, amorette, amoret, amorosa, article, Athanasian wench, blowsabella, bop, chippy, cocotte, cockatrice, cockslut, cockwhore, crumpet, cum dumpster, cum guzzler, cumhole, cumslut, cumwhore, Cyprian, demimondaine, doxy, drab, eager beaver, Essex girl, flirt-gill, floogy, floosie, floosy, floozie, floozy, fornicator, fornicatour, fornicatress, fornicatrix, fuckstress, Fulham virgin, geebag, giglot, gillian, gill, good-time girl, grim, grisette, harlot, ho bag, ho-bag, hoe bag, hoe-bag, hoe, hoochie mama, hoochie, hood rat, ho, hussy, jade, jay, jillflirt, lady of light virtue, LBFM, light-o'-love, light-of-love, lightskirt, little brown fucking machine, loose woman, lorette, mab, manizer, minx, moll, mort wap-apace, nymphomaniac, painted Jezebel, puta, puzzel, quean, Quicumque vult, quiff, rig, scag, scrubber, skank, skettle, sket, skit, slag, slapper, slattern, sloven, slutbag, slut, stale, streel, strumpet, sweet cheeks, tartlet, tart, thotty, thot, town bicycle, town bike, tramp, treddle, trollop, trull, village bicycle, village bike, wagon, waistcoateer, wanton, wench, whore

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Any ship which does not have a fixed schedule or published ports of call.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A long walk, possibly of more than one day, in a scenic or wilderness area.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Australia, New-Zealand

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bushwalk, hike, ramble, trek

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

Of objects, stray, intrusive and unwanted.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

A metal plate worn by diggers under the hollow of the foot to save the shoe.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

Shaking or juddering of a vehicle's driving axle under hard acceleration or braking, caused by the suspension not fully restraining it, and leading to reduction in tire traction.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

noun

Meaning 9

Clipping of trampoline, especially a very small one.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, clipping

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

10

verb

Meaning 10

To walk with heavy footsteps.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

11

verb

Meaning 11

To walk for a long time (usually through difficult terrain).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • We tramped through the woods for hours before we found the main path again.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

12

verb

Meaning 12

To hitchhike.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

13

verb

Meaning 13

To tread upon forcibly and repeatedly; to trample.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

14

verb

Meaning 14

To travel or wander through.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

Examples

  • to tramp the country

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

15

verb

Meaning 15

To cleanse, as clothes, by treading upon them in water.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Scotland, transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

16

verb

Meaning 16

To scram; begone.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: colloquial, intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

17

verb

Meaning 17

To shake or judder under hard acceleration or braking, referring to the movement of a vehicle's driving axle caused by the suspension not fully restraining it, leading to reduction in tire traction.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

18

noun

Meaning 18

a long walk usually for exercise or pleasure

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • she enjoys a hike in her spare time

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: hike, hiking

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: walk

Narrower terms: trudge

19

noun

Meaning 19

a commercial steamer for hire; one having no regular schedule

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: tramp steamer

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: steamer, steamship

20

noun

Meaning 20

a heavy footfall

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the tramp of military boots

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: footfall, footstep, step

21

noun

Meaning 21

a foot traveler; someone who goes on an extended walk (for pleasure)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: hiker, tramper

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: pedestrian, walker, footer

Narrower terms: backpacker, packer

22

noun

Meaning 22

a person who engages freely in promiscuous sex

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: swinger

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: libertine, debauchee, rounder

23

noun

Meaning 23

a disreputable vagrant

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a homeless tramp
  • he tried to help the really down-and-out bums

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: hobo, bum

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: vagrant, drifter, floater, vagabond

Narrower terms: dosser, street person

24

verb

Meaning 24

move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • The gypsies roamed the woods
  • roving vagabonds
  • the wandering Jew
  • The cattle roam across the prairie
  • the laborers drift from one town to the next
  • They rolled from town to town

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: roll, wander, swan, stray, roam, cast, ramble, rove, range, drift, vagabond

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: travel, go, move, locomote

Narrower terms: maunder, gallivant, gad, jazz around

25

verb

Meaning 25

cross on foot

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • We had to tramp the creeks

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: traverse, track, cover, cross, pass over, get over, get across, cut through, cut across

26

verb

Meaning 26

travel on foot, especially on a walking expedition

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • We went tramping about the state of Colorado

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: hike

27

verb

Meaning 27

walk heavily and firmly, as when weary, or through mud

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • Mules plodded in a circle around a grindstone

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: slog, footslog, plod, trudge, pad

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: walk

Narrower terms: squelch, squish, splash, splosh, slosh, slop

History

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.

Clipping of trampoline (ultimately related to the verb via German trampeln).

Across languages

Translations

103 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Azerbaijani: avara — homeless person
  • Bulgarian: скитник (skitnik) — homeless person
  • Catalan: rodamón — homeless person
  • Chinese Mandarin: 流浪漢 /流浪汉 (liúlànghàn) — homeless person
  • Danish: vagabund — homeless person
  • Dutch: vagebond — homeless person
  • Dutch: landloper — homeless person
  • Dutch: zwerver — homeless person
  • Dutch: dakloze — homeless person
  • Esperanto: vagulo — homeless person
  • Finnish: kulkuri — homeless person
  • French: clochard — homeless person
  • French: va-nu-pieds — homeless person
  • Galician: vagabundo — homeless person
  • Galician: baldrogas — homeless person
  • German: Vagabund — homeless person
  • German: Penner — homeless person
  • German: Landstreicher — homeless person
  • German: Landstreicherin — homeless person
  • Ancient Greek: ἀλήτης (alḗtēs) — homeless person
  • Hebrew: יַחְפָן (yaḥfán) — homeless person
  • Hungarian: csavargó — homeless person
  • Indonesian: gelandangan — homeless person
  • Interlingua: vagabundo — homeless person
  • Irish: fear siúil — homeless person
  • Italian: vagabondo — homeless person
  • Italian: barbone — homeless person
  • Kazakh: қаңғыбас (qañğybas) — homeless person
  • Latin: planus — homeless person
  • Latin: errō — homeless person
  • Macedonian: ски́тник (skítnik) — homeless person
  • Māori: kaipaoe — homeless person
  • Norman: dgeux — homeless person
  • Norwegian Bokmål: boms — homeless person
  • Norwegian Bokmål: hjemløs — homeless person
  • Norwegian Bokmål: uteligger — homeless person
  • Polish: tramp — homeless person
  • Portuguese: vagabundo — homeless person
  • Portuguese: vagabunda — homeless person
  • Romanian: vagabond — homeless person
  • Russian: бродя́га (brodjága) — homeless person
  • Russian: бомж (bomž) — homeless person
  • Russian: бося́к (bosják) — homeless person
  • Serbo-Croatian: ски́тница — homeless person
  • Serbo-Croatian: кло̀ша̄р — homeless person
  • Serbo-Croatian: лу́талица — homeless person
  • Serbo-Croatian: skítnica — homeless person
  • Serbo-Croatian: klòšār — homeless person
  • Serbo-Croatian: lútalica — homeless person
  • Slovene: klošar — homeless person
  • Lower Sorbian: dundak — homeless person
  • Spanish: vagabundo — homeless person
  • Spanish: vagabunda — homeless person
  • Talysh: avərə — homeless person
  • Tamil: நாடோடி (nāṭōṭi) — homeless person
  • Taos: tràmpiʼína — homeless person
  • Ukrainian: волоцюга (volocjuha) — homeless person
  • Ukrainian: бродяга (brodjaha) — homeless person
  • Ukrainian: бомж (bomž) — homeless person
  • Bulgarian: курва (kurva) — promiscuous woman
  • Ngazidja Comorian: djamɓazi — promiscuous woman
  • Dutch: hoer — promiscuous woman
  • Dutch: sloerie — promiscuous woman
  • Finnish: lutka — promiscuous woman
  • Finnish: lunttu — promiscuous woman
  • French: traînée — promiscuous woman
  • French: garce — promiscuous woman
  • Galician: baldreo — promiscuous woman
  • German: Schlampe — promiscuous woman
  • German: Flittchen — promiscuous woman
  • Greek: παλιογυναίκα (paliogynaíka) — promiscuous woman
  • Italian: puttana — promiscuous woman
  • Italian: sgualdrina — promiscuous woman
  • Macedonian: ку́рва (kúrva) — promiscuous woman
  • Persian: راکاره (râkâre) — promiscuous woman
  • Portuguese: vadia — promiscuous woman
  • Portuguese: puta — promiscuous woman
  • Portuguese: vaca — promiscuous woman
  • Portuguese: galinha — promiscuous woman
  • Romanian: târfă — promiscuous woman
  • Romanian: curvă — promiscuous woman
  • Russian: шлю́ха (šljúxa) — promiscuous woman
  • Russian: потаску́ха (potaskúxa) — promiscuous woman
  • Scottish Gaelic: sgliùrach — promiscuous woman
  • Scottish Gaelic: luid — promiscuous woman
  • Scottish Gaelic: reipseach — promiscuous woman
  • Spanish: golfa — promiscuous woman
  • Spanish: ramera — promiscuous woman
  • Spanish: puta — promiscuous woman
  • Spanish: prostituta — promiscuous woman
  • Esperanto: vagado — long, wandering walk
  • Vietnamese: đi dạo — long, wandering walk
  • Bulgarian: стъпвам тежко (stǎpvam težko) — to walk with heavy footstep
  • Finnish: tarpoa — to walk with heavy footstep
  • Finnish: raahustaa — to walk with heavy footstep
  • Galician: tripar — to walk with heavy footstep
  • Russian: то́пать (tópatʹ) — to walk with heavy footstep
  • Russian: топта́ть (toptátʹ) — to walk with heavy footstep
  • Bulgarian: мъкна се (mǎkna se) — to walk for a long time through difficult terrain
  • Finnish: tarpoa — to walk for a long time through difficult terrain
  • Portuguese: trilhar — to walk for a long time through difficult terrain
  • Russian: броди́ть (brodítʹ) — to walk for a long time through difficult terrain
  • Vietnamese: lang thang — to walk for a long time through difficult terrain
Real reading context

tramp in complete knowledge articles