I. ˈträt, usu -äd.+V noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from troter to trot
1.
a.
(1) : a moderately fast gait of a horse or other quadruped in which the legs move in diagonal pairs — compare pace 5b
(2) : a gait of a man or other biped that falls between a walk and a run in speed and action : a jogging pace (as of one hurrying) ; also : brisk movement or activity
tasks that kept him on the trot all day
(3) : an elastic running dance step in moderate tempo ; also : a dance featuring such a step
b. : a journey or ride on horseback
pleasant to go for a trot on a fresh summer morning
c. : trotting race
a mile trot for three-year-olds
d. : the sound of a trotting animal
2.
a. : a small child
b. : an old woman
one of the sourest trots in the village
3. : pony 4
4. trots plural but singular or plural in construction : diarrhea — not often in polite use
II. verb
( trotted ; trotted ; trotting ; trots )
Etymology: Middle English trotten, from Middle French troter, from Old French, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German trottōn to tread, Middle High German trotten to run, Old English tredan to tread — more at tread
intransitive verb
1. : to ride, drive, or proceed at a trot
the fox trotted over the knoll
trotting behind a pair of matched bays
2. : to move or proceed briskly : jog , hurry
keep him trotting
the toddler trotted after his father
transitive verb
1.
a. : to ride, drive, or cause to go at a trot
trotting the filly toward home
b. : to traverse at a trot
loved to trot the hills and valleys
2. : to draw (one) out so as to make sport of : subject to ridicule
•
- trot in double harness
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: short for trotline
: trotline ; also : one of the short lines with hooks that are attached at intervals to the main line of a trotline
IV. intransitive verb
: to use a trotline in fishing