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.
Meanings
A gait of a person or animal faster than a walk but slower than a run.
Waziri’s warriors marched at a rapid trot through the jungle in the direction of the village. 1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 133:
A brisk journey or progression.
In this lesson we'll have a quick trot through Chapter 3 before moving on to Chapter 4.
We often take the car and have a trot down to the beach.
(of horses) A gait of a four-legged animal between walk and canter, a diagonal gait (in which diagonally opposite pairs of legs move together).
To assume the correct position for the posting trot, first walk, with the body inclined forward in a posting position. Then put the horse into a slow or sitting trot at six miles an hour. Do not post. 2009, Gordon Wright, George H. Morris, Learning To Ride, Hunt, And Show, page 65:
Dogs have a variety of gaits. Most dogs have the walk, trot, pace, and gallop. 2000, Margaret H. Bonham, Introduction to: Dog Agility, page 14:
The mare started at a walk before breaking into a trot.
The toelt is comfortable for the rider because the amplitude of the dorsoventral displacement is lower than at the trot.[…]The slow trot is a two-beat symmetric diagonal gait. Among the normal variations of the trot of saddle horses, the speed of the gait increases from collected to extended trot. 2008, Kenneth W. Hinchcliff, Andris J. Kaneps, Raymond J. Geor, Equine Exercise Physiology: The Science of Exercise in the Athletic Horse, Elsevier, page 154:
A toddler.
1855, William Makepeace Thackeray, The Newcomes, 1869, The Works of William Makepeace Thackeray, Volume V: The Newcomes, Volume I, page 123,
[…] but Ethel romped with the little children — the rosy little trots — and took them on her knees, and told them a thousand stories.
A moderately rapid dance.
(obsolete) A young animal.
(archaic, derogatory) An ugly old woman, a hag.
(Australia, obsolete) A succession of heads thrown in a game of two-up.
(Australia, New-Zealand, with "good" or "bad") A run of luck or fortune.
It was to be a hugely special occasion, for apart from the picture shows at the Majestic, there was usually nothing at all going on in Sandspit to make anyone think they were on a good trot living there. 1994, Noel Virtue, Sandspit Crossing, page 34:
Should he or she be having a bad trot, the exchange rate will be higher than normal. 2004, John Mosig, Ric Fallu, Australian Fish Farmer: A Practical Guide to Aquaculture, 2nd edition, page 21:
He′s had a good trot, but his luck will end soon.
(dated, qualifier:among students, slang) Synonym of horse (illegitimate study aid)
(as 'the trots', informal) Diarrhoea.
He's got a bad case of the trots and has to keep running off to the toilet.
old woman (ugly old woman) · jog (gait of a person faster than a walk) · horse
Translations (53)
pt trote (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · it trotterellio (a gait of a person faster than a walk) · cs poklus (a gait of a person faster than a walk) · mk кас (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · ja 速歩 (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · es foxtrot (moderately rapid dance) · ru трот (moderately rapid dance) · sv trav (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · ru трусца́ (a gait of a person faster than a walk) · bg тръс (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · ca trot (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · nl draf (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · it trotto (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · fr trot (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · br tus (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · ko 트로트 (moderately rapid dance) · eo troto (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · mi toitoi (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · hy վարգ (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · pl kłus (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · ka ცუნცული (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · cy tuth (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · ga sodar (a gait of a person faster than a walk) · es trote (a gait of a person faster than a walk) · scn vecchia nzìpita (ugly old woman) · es trote (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · ja トロット (moderately rapid dance) · ru ста́рая карга́ (ugly old woman) · no trav (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · es bruja (ugly old woman) · tr tırıs (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · bg подти́чване (a gait of a person faster than a walk) · it megera (ugly old woman) · ru ста́рая кля́ча (ugly old woman) · fa یرتمه (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · ga sodar (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · es racha (run of luck or fortune) · io troto (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · ru рысь (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · is brokk (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · sh kȃs (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · fa پویه (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · ka ძუნძული (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · gl trote (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · fi ravi (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · tr acuze (ugly old woman) · nn tråv (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · cs klus (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · ru бы́стрый шаг (a gait of a person faster than a walk) · es arpía (ugly old woman) · cs klus (a gait of a person faster than a walk) · de Trab (gait of an animal between walk and canter) · sh ка̑с (gait of an animal between walk and canter)
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.
Meanings
(intransitive) To move along briskly; specifically, to move at a pace between a walk and a run.
Then up Jack got.
And home did trot,
As fast as he could caper;
Dame Gill did the job,
To plaster his nob
With vinegar and brown paper. 1810, Jack and Jill, and old Dame Gill, York: J. Kendrew, page 3:
It was earliest morning, when even small trees cast long shadows and scarlet foxes trot denward through the dew like flecks of fire. 1987, Gene Wolfe, chapter XXVIII, in The Urth of the New Sun, 1st US edition, New York: Tor Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 164:
They sent little Jane to the garden to play,
But she opened the gate, and then trotted away
Under the hawthorns and down the green lane,
Bad little, mad little, runaway Jane! c. 1920s-1930s, Charlotte Druitt Cole, Runaway Jane
I would trot ten or twelve miles each day, go into a cheap restaurant and eat my fill of bread, but would never be satisfied. During these wanderings I once hit on a vegetarian restaurant in Farringdon Street. The sight of it filled me with the same joy that a child feels on getting a thing after its own heart. 1927-29, M.K. Gandhi, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, translated 1940 by Mahadev Desai, Part I, Chapter xiv
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.
(intransitive, of a horse) To move at a gait between a walk and a canter.
(transitive) To cause to move, as a horse or other animal, in the pace called a trot; to cause to run without galloping or cantering.
(UK, archaic, slang, transitive) To bid against (a person) at an auction, so as to raise the price of the goods.
A particular friend of mine complained that I had "trotted" him at a sale, but he did not see what was happening on the part of the other bidder. 1927, Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons, The Parliamentary Debates (Official Report), page 2221:
pace (to walk rapidly) · jog (to walk rapidly) · run
Translations (51)
eo troti (walk rapidly) · sh ка̏сати ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · tr yortmak (walk rapidly) · it trottare (walk rapidly) · fr trotter (walk rapidly) · pl kłusować ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · fr aller le trot ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · ca trotar ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · fr aller au trot ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · qu chahchay ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · eo troti ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · cs klusat (walk rapidly) · tr yetmek (walk rapidly) · sh kȁsati ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · ro trota ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · it trottare ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · pt trotar ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · mi toi ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · ga bí ag sodar ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · cs poklusávat (walk rapidly) · fi ravata (walk rapidly) · it andare al trotto ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · tr yelmek (walk rapidly) · tr seğirtmek (walk rapidly) · mk каска ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · cs klusat ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · ga bí ag sodar (walk rapidly) · mi toitoi ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · es trotar ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · ru идти́ ры́сью ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · ru торопи́ться (walk rapidly) · gl trotar ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · pl pokłusować ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · ru спеши́ть (walk rapidly) · is brokka ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · tr tırıs gitmek ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · sv trava ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · fr trotter ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · ca anat al trot ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · io trotar ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · fa یرتمه رفتن ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · tr koşmak (walk rapidly) · de traben ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · bg вървя в тръс ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · fa پوییدن (walk rapidly) · no trave ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · io trotigar (transitive: to cause to move in the pace called a trot) · bg подтичвам (walk rapidly) · es trotar (walk rapidly) · fi ravata ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter) · it andare di trotto ((of a horse) move at a gait between a walk and a canter)
The problem is that the likes of Shapps and his boss Boris Johnson are eager for a fight with the unions. They are being deliberately provocative, so they can portray railway workers as 'troublesome trots'. 2022 June 15, Christian Wolmar, “What do the railways need and how can we fulfil that need?”, in RAIL, number 959, page 45: