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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

trot.

A gait of a person or animal faster than a walk but slower than a run.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/tɹɑt/General-American/tɹɒt/Received-Pronunciation
  1. A gait of a person or animal faster than a walk but slower than a run.

  2. A brisk journey or progression.

    We often take the car and have a trot down to the beach.
    In this lesson we'll have a quick trot through Chapter 3 before moving on to Chapter 4.
  3. A gait of a four-legged animal between walk and canter, a diagonal gait (in which diagonally opposite pairs of legs move together).

    The mare started at a walk before breaking into a trot.
  4. A toddler.

  5. A moderately rapid dance.

  6. A young animal.

    obsolete
  7. An ugly old woman, a hag.

    archaic · derogatory
  8. A succession of heads thrown in a game of two-up.

    Australia · obsolete
  9. A run of luck or fortune.

    Australia · New-Zealand
    He′s had a good trot, but his luck will end soon.
  10. Synonym of horse (illegitimate study aid)

    dated · slang
  11. Diarrhoea.

    informal
    He's got a bad case of the trots and has to keep running off to the toilet.
Where this word comes from

From Middle English trotten, from Old French trotter, troter (“to go, trot”), from Medieval Latin *trottō, *trotō (“to go”), from Frankish *trottōn (“to go, run”), from Proto-Germanic *trudōną, *trudaną, *tradjaną (“to go, step, tread”), from Proto-Indo-European *dreh₂- (“to run, escape”). Cognate with Old High German trottōn (“to run”), Modern German trotten (“to trot, plod”), Gothic 𐍄𐍂𐌿𐌳𐌰𐌽 (trudan, “to tread”), Old Norse troða (“to walk, tread”), Old English tredan (“to step, tread”). Doublet of trade and tread.

verb/tɹɑt/General-American/tɹɒt/Received-Pronunciation
  1. To move along briskly; specifically, to move at a pace between a walk and a run.

    intransitive
    I didn't want to miss my bus, so I trotted the last few hundred yards to the stop.
    The dog trotted along obediently by his master's side.
  2. To move at a gait between a walk and a canter.

    intransitive
  3. To cause to move, as a horse or other animal, in the pace called a trot; to cause to run without galloping or cantering.

    transitive
  4. To bid against (a person) at an auction, so as to raise the price of the goods.

    UK · archaic · slang · transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English trotten, from Old French trotter, troter (“to go, trot”), from Medieval Latin *trottō, *trotō (“to go”), from Frankish *trottōn (“to go, run”), from Proto-Germanic *trudōną, *trudaną, *tradjaną (“to go, step, tread”), from Proto-Indo-European *dreh₂- (“to run, escape”). Cognate with Old High German trottōn (“to run”), Modern German trotten (“to trot, plod”), Gothic 𐍄𐍂𐌿𐌳𐌰𐌽 (trudan, “to tread”), Old Norse troða (“to walk, tread”), Old English tredan (“to step, tread”). Doublet of trade and tread.

noun/tɹɑt/General-American/tɹɒt/Received-Pronunciation
  1. A genre of Korean pop music employing repetitive rhythm and vocal inflections.

    uncountable
Where this word comes from

Short for foxtrot, whose rhythms influenced the genre.

noun/tɹɑt/General-American/tɹɒt/Received-Pronunciation
  1. Alternative form of Trot (“Trotskyist”).

    alt-of · alternative
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.