I. traf ‧ fic 1 S1 W2 /ˈtræfɪk/ BrE AmE noun [uncountable]
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Origin: Early French trafique , from Old Italian traffico , from trafficare 'to trade' ]
1 . the vehicles moving along a road or street:
There wasn’t much traffic on the roads.
The sound of the traffic kept me awake.
2 . the movement of aircraft, ships, or trains from one place to another:
air traffic control
the problems of air traffic congestion in Europe
3 . formal the movement of people or goods by aircraft, ships, or trains
traffic of
Most long-distance traffic of heavy goods is done by ships.
4 . the secret buying and selling of illegal goods:
drugs traffic
traffic in
traffic in firearms
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ verbs
▪ be stuck/caught/held up in traffic
Sorry I’m late – I was stuck in traffic.
▪ avoid/miss the traffic
I left early, hoping to miss the traffic.
▪ cut/reduce traffic
The congestion charge did cut road traffic in central London.
▪ traffic moves/flows
At last the traffic was moving again.
▪ traffic is diverted (=made to go in another direction)
Traffic was diverted onto the A166 as emergency services cleared the wreckage
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + traffic
▪ heavy
We ran into heavy traffic near the airport.
▪ light
The traffic is fairly light at this time of day.
▪ bad/terrible
The traffic was terrible this morning.
▪ slow/slow-moving
Traffic’s very slow going out of New York.
▪ rush-hour traffic
I left early to try to miss the rush-hour traffic.
▪ local traffic
There is quite a lot of local traffic.
▪ motorway traffic British English , freeway traffic AmE:
As motorway traffic worsens, commuters may have to find other ways of getting to and from work.
▪ oncoming traffic (=traffic coming towards you)
The driver, too busy watching oncoming traffic, doesn’t notice the pedestrian ahead.
■ traffic + NOUN
▪ a traffic jam (=a line of cars that have stopped, or are moving very slowly)
She spent two hours sitting in a traffic jam.
▪ traffic congestion (=when the roads are full of traffic)
efforts to cut traffic congestion
▪ traffic flow (=the steady movement of traffic)
The road widening should help to improve traffic flow.
▪ a traffic accident
He’s been involved in a traffic accident.
▪ the traffic police (=police dealing with traffic problems and illegal driving)
The teenagers got stopped by the local traffic police.
▪ traffic noise
You get a lot of traffic noise living here.
■ phrases
▪ the volume of traffic
The new ring road will reduce the volume of traffic through the village.
▪ a stream of traffic (=a long continuous series of cars, trucks etc)
There was a constant stream of traffic.
▪ the roar/rumble/hum of traffic
The only noise was the distant rumble of traffic on the coastal road.
II. traffic 2 BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle trafficked , present participle trafficking ) [transitive]
to take someone to another country and force them to work, for example as a ↑ prostitute :
He had made a fortune by trafficking young women.
traffic in something phrasal verb
to buy and sell illegal goods:
Lewis was found guilty of trafficking in drugs.