I. trot 1 /trɒt $ trɑːt/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle trotted , present participle trotting )
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: troter ]
1 . [intransitive] if a horse trots, it moves fairly quickly with each front leg moving at the same time as the opposite back leg ⇨ canter , gallop
2 . [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] if a person or animal trots, they run fairly slowly, taking short regular steps:
She came trotting down the steps from the library.
3 . [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] informal to walk or go somewhere, especially fairly quickly:
He trotted off and came back a couple of minutes later, holding a parcel.
trot something ↔ out phrasal verb informal
to give opinions, excuses, reasons etc that you have used too many times and that do not seem sincere:
Steve trotted out the same old excuses.
• • •
THESAURUS
■ animals running
▪ trot to run fairly slowly, taking short steps – used especially about horses and dogs:
A little dog was trotting behind her.
▪ gallop if a horse gallops, it runs very quickly:
The horse galloped off across the field.
▪ bolt to suddenly run somewhere very fast, especially in order to escape:
Suddenly a fox bolted out from beneath a hedge.
II. trot 2 BrE AmE noun
1 . HORSE
a) [singular] the movement of a horse at trotting speed:
Our horses slowed to a trot.
b) [countable] a ride on a horse at trotting speed
2 . on the trot British English informal
a) one directly following another:
The class has been cancelled three weeks on the trot now.
b) busy doing something SYN on the go :
I’ve been on the trot all day.
3 . SLOW RUN [singular] a fairly slow way of running in which you take short regular steps:
She broke into a trot (=started running slowly) and hurried on ahead of us.
4 . STUDENTS’ ANSWERS [countable] American English a book of notes or answers used by students, especially to cheat in tests SYN crib
5 . the trots informal ↑ diarrhoea