What does "trot" mean?
A gait of a person or animal faster than a walk but slower than a run.
Trot
/tɹɑt/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A gait of a person or animal faster than a walk but slower than a run.
- Grammar: trot is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: jog, jog, alliteration, amble.
- Useful contrasts: ambling, cantering, canters.
- Usage evidence: The old man set off at a quick trot.
How to use "trot"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "trot" 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 "trot" 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 "trot" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "trot" 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 "trot" is acting as noun, verb, slang 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 "jog" 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 "trot", 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 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."
- 2 A genre of Korean pop music employing repetitive rhythm and vocal inflections. uncountable
- 3 Alternative form of Trot (“Trotskyist”). alt-of, alternative
"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'."
- 4 A Trotskyist. derogatory, slang
"Loyal to a tee, he is still at a loss to understand the failure of the Frank Dobson candidacy in the London mayoral contest, and abandoned constituency meetings after a couple of events because they were "too dominated by Trots"."
- 5 a gait faster than a walk; diagonally opposite legs strike the ground together wordnet
Show 13 more definitions
- 6 A brisk journey or progression.
"We often take the car and have a trot down to the beach."
- 7 a slow pace of running wordnet
- 8 A gait of a four-legged animal between walk and canter, a diagonal gait (in which diagonally opposite pairs of legs move together).
"Dogs have a variety of gaits. Most dogs have the walk, trot, pace, and gallop."
- 9 a literal translation used in studying a foreign language (often used illicitly) wordnet
- 10 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."
- 11 radicals who support Trotsky's theory that socialism must be established throughout the world by continuing revolution wordnet
- 12 A moderately rapid dance.
- 13 A young animal. obsolete
- 14 An ugly old woman, a hag. archaic, derogatory
- 15 A succession of heads thrown in a game of two-up. Australia, obsolete
- 16 A run of luck or fortune. Australia, New-Zealand
"He′s had a good trot, but his luck will end soon."
- 17 Synonym of horse (illegitimate study aid) dated, slang
- 18 Diarrhoea. informal
"He's got a bad case of the trots and has to keep running off to the toilet."
Verb
- 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."
- 2 run at a moderately swift pace wordnet
- 3 To move at a gait between a walk and a canter. intransitive
- 4 cause to trot wordnet
- 5 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
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 ride at a trot wordnet
- 7 To bid against (a person) at an auction, so as to raise the price of the goods. UK, archaic, slang, transitive
"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."
Example
"The old man set off at a quick trot."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "trot"?
Common synonyms include: jog, jog, alliteration, amble, amplification, assonance.
How do you use "trot" in a sentence?
The old man set off at a quick trot.
How do you pronounce "trot"?
Pronounced /tɹɑt/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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.
Etymology 2
Short for foxtrot, whose rhythms influenced the genre.
Etymology 3
Clipping.