What does "travel" mean?
The act of traveling; passage from place to place.
Travel
/ˈtɹævəl/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The act of traveling; passage from place to place.
- Grammar: travel is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: journey, activity, advance, advancement.
- Useful contrasts: halt, immobility, remain.
- Usage evidence: I don't have anyone who'd travel with me.
How to use "travel"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "travel" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "travel" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "travel" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "travel" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "travel" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "journey" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "travel", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The act of traveling; passage from place to place. countable, uncountable
"I like travel, but it’s always too tiring."
- 2 self-propelled movement wordnet
- 3 A series of journeys. countable, in-plural, uncountable
"I’m off on my travels around France again."
- 4 the act of going from one place to another wordnet
- 5 An account of one's travels. countable, in-plural, uncountable
"He released his travels in 1900, two years after returning from Africa."
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 a movement through space that changes the location of something wordnet
- 7 The activity or traffic along a route or through a given point. countable, uncountable
- 8 The working motion of a piece of machinery; the length of a mechanical stroke. countable, uncountable
"There was a lot of travel in the handle, because the tool was out of adjustment."
- 9 Labour; parturition; travail. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"Hard Labour is when more vehement Pains and dangerous Symptomes happen to Women in Travel, and continue a longer time."
- 10 Distance that a keyboard's key moves vertically when depressed. countable, uncountable
"The keys have great travel."
Verb
- 1 To be on a journey, often for pleasure or business and with luggage; to go from one place to another. intransitive
"John seems to spend as much time travelling as he does in the office."
- 2 change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically wordnet
- 3 To pass from one place to another; to move or transmit. intransitive
"(ballistics)"
- 4 undergo transportation as in a vehicle wordnet
- 5 To move illegally by walking or running without dribbling the ball. intransitive
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 make a trip for pleasure wordnet
- 7 To travel throughout (a place). transitive
"I’ve travelled the world."
- 8 undertake a journey or trip wordnet
- 9 To force to journey. transitive
"They shall not be travailed forth of their own franchises."
- 10 travel upon or across wordnet
- 11 To labour; to travail. obsolete
"Necessity will make men fare hard, and work hard, and travel hard, go bare, and suffer much; yea it will even cut off a leg or arm to save their lives;"
- 12 travel from place to place, as for the purpose of finding work, preaching, or acting as a judge wordnet
Antonyms
Example
"I don't have anyone who'd travel with me."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "travel"?
Common synonyms include: journey, activity, advance, advancement, advancing, ascend.
How do you use "travel" in a sentence?
I don't have anyone who'd travel with me.
How do you pronounce "travel"?
Pronounced /ˈtɹævəl/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
PIE word *tréyes From Middle English travelen (“to make a laborious journey, travel”) from Middle Scots travailen (“to toil, work, travel”), alteration of Middle English travaillen (“to toil, work”), from Old French travailler (“to trouble, suffer, be worn out”). See the doublets travail and travois. Compare typologically routine << Latin rupta via. Note the inverse semantic vectors: travel moves from a subjective state (toil) to an objective action (journey), while routine moves from an objective object (beaten path) to a subjective pattern (habit). Largely displaced native fare, from Old English faran (“to go [a long distance], to travel”). More at fare.
Etymology 2
From Middle English travail, travell, from Old French travail, travaille, travaillie, traval, travalle, traveaul, traveil, traveille, travel. Doublet of travail.