I. walk 1 S1 W1 /wɔːk $ wɒːk/ BrE AmE verb
1 . [intransitive and transitive] to move forward by putting one foot in front of the other:
‘How did you get here?’ ‘We walked.’
Doctors said he’d never walk again.
walk into/down/up etc
Carrie walked into the room and sat down in her chair.
He loved walking in the hills.
walk a mile/200 metres/a short distance etc
We must have walked ten miles today.
I walked all the way to San Rafael.
within (easy) walking distance (of something) (=near enough to be able to walk to)
There are plenty of bars and restaurants within walking distance of the hotel.
walking pace (=the speed that you normally walk at)
2 . [transitive] to walk somewhere with someone, especially in order to make sure that they are safe or to be polite:
It’s late – I’ll walk you home.
walk somebody to something
Schools are urging parents to walk their children to school.
She walked me to the front gate.
3 . [transitive] to take a dog for a walk for exercise:
Grandma’s out walking the dog.
4 . [intransitive] British English informal if something has walked, it has disappeared and you think someone may have taken it:
My pen seems to have walked.
5 . walk free ( also walk American English ) to leave a court of law without being punished or sent to prison:
Ferguson walked free after the charges were dropped.
If more evidence isn’t found, Harris will walk.
6 . walk it British English spoken
a) to make a journey by walking:
If the last bus has gone, we’ll have to walk it.
b) to succeed or win something easily
7 . be walking on air to be feeling extremely happy
8 . walk the streets
a) to walk around the streets in a town or city:
It was not safe to walk the streets at night.
b) old-fashioned to be a ↑ prostitute
9 . walk the beat when a police officer walks the beat, they walk around an area of a town or city in order to make sure nobody is committing a crime
10 . walk tall to be proud and confident because you know that you have not done anything wrong
11 . walk somebody off their feet British English walk sb’s legs off American English informal to make someone tired by making them walk too far
12 . walk the walk to do the things that people expect or think are necessary in a particular situation:
People are motivated by leaders who actually walk the walk.
⇨ talk the talk at ↑ talk 1 (18)
13 . walk the plank to be forced to walk along a board laid over the side of the ship until you fall off into the sea, used as a punishment in the past
14 . walk on eggshells ( also walk on eggs American English ) to be very careful about how you behave with someone because they are easily upset or made angry
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ walk to move forward by putting one foot in front of the other:
I missed the bus so I decided to walk.
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We’ve walked about eight miles today.
▪ wander to walk without any clear purpose or direction:
They wandered around the narrow streets of the old city.
▪ stride to walk with long steps in a determined, confident, or angry way:
A man in a suit came striding purposefully into the hall.
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She strode onto the stage and began to address the audience.
▪ pace to walk first in one direction and then in another many times, especially because you are nervous:
Nick was pacing up and down, waiting for the phone to ring.
▪ march to walk quickly with firm regular steps – used especially about soldiers or someone who is angry:
The troops marched past with smart uniform and good discipline.
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Sheila marched into the office and demanded an apology.
▪ wade to walk through deep water:
We had to wade across the river.
▪ stomp to walk putting your feet down very hard, especially because you are angry:
She turned and stomped off without looking back.
■ to walk quietly
▪ tiptoe to walk quietly and carefully on your toes because you do not want to make a noise:
I tiptoed out trying not to wake the baby.
▪ creep to walk quietly and slowly because you do not want anyone to see or hear you:
Stella crept up the stairs, hoping not to wake her parents.
▪ sneak to walk quietly so that no-one notices you, especially because you are doing something you should not do:
They sneaked off without paying.
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I quickly sneaked out to have a cigarette.
▪ pad to walk quietly without wearing shoes – also used about cats and dogs walking quietly:
Michelle got up and padded barefoot down to the kitchen.
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The cat padded in, asking for her food.
■ to walk slowly
▪ trudge /trʌdʒ/ to walk in a slow tired way because it is difficult to continue walking, or you do not want to go somewhere:
The men trudged along the road, heads bent against the wind.
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I’ve spent hours trudging around the shops looking for a present.
▪ plod to walk slowly in a tired way – often used about a horse, donkey etc:
The donkey was plodding slowly along under its heavy load.
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I plodded on growing thirstier and hungrier.
▪ shuffle to walk very slowly and noisily without lifting your feet off the ground:
The old man got up and shuffled to the door.
■ to walk with difficulty
▪ limp to walk with difficulty because one leg hurts, so that you put most of your weight on the other leg:
Jake was limping because of the injury to his knee.
▪ stagger to walk or move unsteadily, almost falling over, especially because you are drunk or have been injured:
They finally staggered back to the hotel at 4 o'clock in the morning.
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He hit her and she staggered and fell.
▪ hobble to walk with difficulty in a slow and unsteady way because your legs or feet hurt or have been injured:
My new shoes were so painful I could only hobble along.
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She hobbled out to the car on crutches.
■ to walk for pleasure
▪ take a walk ( also go for a walk ) to walk somewhere for pleasure:
We went for a walk in the park.
▪ stroll ( also go for a stroll ) to walk in a relaxed way, especially for pleasure:
People were strolling along beside the river.
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On Sunday, they went for a stroll in the park.
▪ hike ( also go hiking ) to walk a long way in the mountains or countryside as an activity you enjoy:
We’re going hiking in Scotland this summer.
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They hiked around the Lake District.
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Pat likes doing active things like hiking and horse-riding.
▪ trek ( also go trekking ) to go for a walk lasting several days or weeks in a faraway place, carrying your clothes with you:
I’ve always wanted to go trekking in Nepal.
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They trekked up to Everest Base Camp.
walk away phrasal verb
1 . to leave a bad or difficult situation, instead of trying to make it better
walk away from
You can’t just walk away from 15 years of marriage!
When the business started to have problems, it was very tempting to walk away.
2 . to come out of an accident or very bad situation without being harmed:
Miraculously, both drivers walked away without a scratch.
walk away with something phrasal verb informal
to win something easily:
And the lucky winner will walk away with a prize of £10,000.
walk in on somebody phrasal verb
to go into a room and accidentally interrupt someone who is doing something private that they would not want you to see
walk into something phrasal verb
1 . to hit an object accidentally as you are walking along
walk straight/right/bang etc into something
Zeke wasn’t looking and walked straight into a tree.
2 . if you walk into an unpleasant situation, you become involved in it without intending to:
He was fairly certain now that he was walking into a trap, and wished he’d come armed.
walk straight/right into something
I walked right into a mob of maybe 50 young white guys.
3 . British English if you walk into a job, you get it very easily:
You can’t expect to walk straight into a job.
4 . to make yourself look stupid when you could easily have avoided it if you had been more careful
walk straight/right into something
You walked right into that one!
walk off phrasal verb
1 . to leave someone by walking away from them, especially in a rude or angry way:
Don’t just walk off when I’m trying to talk to you!
2 . walk something ↔ off if you walk off an illness or unpleasant feeling, you go for a walk to make it go away:
Let’s go out – maybe I can walk this headache off.
walk off dinner/a meal etc (=go for a walk so that your stomach feels less full)
3 . walk off (the/your etc job) American English to stop working as a protest:
Without new contracts, mine workers will walk off their jobs Thursday.
walk off with something phrasal verb informal
1 . to win something easily:
Lottery winners can walk off with a cool £18 million.
2 . to steal something or take something that does not belong to you:
Thieves walked off with two million dollars’ worth of jewellery.
walk out phrasal verb
1 . to leave a place suddenly, especially because you disapprove of something:
The play was awful and we walked out after half an hour.
walk out of
the issue that led to the US walking out of the trade talks this week
2 . to leave your husband, wife etc suddenly and go and live somewhere else:
Her husband walked out, leaving her with three children to look after.
walk out on
Five years later she walked out on Matthew and their two boys.
3 . to leave your job suddenly because you no longer want to do it:
We’re so short-staffed. I can’t just walk out.
walk out of
If you can afford to walk out of your job, why not?
4 . to stop working as a protest:
Workers are threatening to walk out if an agreement is not reached.
walk out on something phrasal verb
to stop doing something you have agreed to do or that you are responsible for:
‘I never walk out on a deal,’ Dee said.
walk over somebody phrasal verb
to treat someone badly by always making them do what you want them to do:
It’s terrible – she lets her kids just walk all over her.
II. walk 2 S2 W2 BrE AmE noun
1 . [countable] a journey that you make by walking, especially for exercise or enjoyment:
It’s a long walk. Maybe we should get the bus.
walk to/through/across etc
a walk through the castle grounds
2 . [countable] a particular journey that you make by walking, especially one that goes through an interesting or attractive area:
He says he’s going on a long walk tomorrow.
Have you ever done the Three Peaks walk?
coastal/hill etc walk
There is a stunning 10-mile coastal walk from St Andrews to Crail.
3 . [countable] an organized event when people walk for pleasure:
Let’s all go on the beach walk.
The local tourist office organises a number of guided walks.
4 . [singular] the way someone walks SYN gait :
You can often recognize people by their walk.
5 . [singular] when you walk rather than run:
Breathless, she slowed to a walk.
⇨ ↑ walk of life , ⇨ sponsored walk at ↑ sponsor 2 (5)
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ go for a walk
Let’s go for a walk on the beach.
▪ take/have a walk
She took a walk through the town.
▪ take somebody/a dog for a walk
Could you take the dog for a walk?
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + walk
▪ a long walk
We went for a long walk in the woods.
▪ a short walk
The house is only a short walk from local shops.
▪ a little walk
I just felt like a little walk.
▪ a brisk walk
A brisk walk will improve your circulation.
▪ an easy walk
From here it is an easy walk to the summit.
▪ a five-mile/ten-kilometre etc walk
He began the five-mile walk back to town.
▪ a five-minute/two-hour etc walk
There’s a good restaurant a five-minute walk away.
■ COMMON ERRORS
► Do not say ' go a walk ' or ' make a walk '. Say go for a walk .
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ walk noun [countable] a journey that you make on foot, especially for exercise or enjoyment:
I took the dog out for a long walk in the fresh air.
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We went for some lovely walks.
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Do you fancy going out for a walk?
▪ hike noun [countable] a long walk in the mountains or countryside:
We went for a hike in the woods.
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There are some good hikes nearby.
▪ stroll noun [singular] a slow, relaxed walk:
Let’s take a stroll in the park.
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We went for a stroll along the river.
▪ wander British English a short relaxed walk, especially to look around a place:
We had a wander round the town and then went to the beach.
▪ trek noun [singular] used when talking about a long walk in the mountains, countryside etc which lasts for several days and which you do for pleasure. Also used about a long tiring walk somewhere, which you do not want to have to do :
They went on a three week trek in the Atlas Mountains.
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We then had a long trek back to our hotel with all our luggage.
▪ slog [singular] a long, tiring, and unpleasant walk, which continues for several hours:
It was a dreary slog over bleak and windswept hills.
▪ march noun [countable] an occasion when a group of people walk somewhere together, in order to protest about something:
Demonstrators are planning a march through the capital.
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a peace march