traffic

American  

[traf-ik] / ˈtræf ɪk /

noun

• traffic
  plural

1. the movement of vehicles, ships, persons, etc., in an area, along a street, through an air lane, over a water route, etc..

   the heavy traffic on Main Street.

2. the vehicles, persons, etc., moving in an area, along a street, etc.

3. the transportation of goods for the purpose of trade, by sea, land, or air.

   ships of traffic.

4. trade; buying and selling; commercial dealings.

5. trade between different countries or places; commerce.

6. the business done by a railroad or other carrier in the transportation of freight or passengers.

7. the aggregate of freight, passengers, telephone or telegraph messages, etc., handled, especially in a given period.

8. communication, dealings, or contact between persons or groups.

   traffic between the Democrats and the Republicans.

9. mutual exchange or communication.

   traffic in ideas.

10. trade in some specific commodity or service, often of an illegal nature.

    the vast traffic in narcotics.

11. illegal commercial trade in human beings for the purpose of exploiting them.

    the traffic in young children.

---

verb (used without object)

• traffics,
  present (3rd person singular)
• trafficked,
  past participle,  past
• trafficking
  present participle

1. to carry on traffic, trade, or commercial dealings.

2. to trade or deal in a specific commodity or service, often of an illegal nature (usually followed byin ).

   to traffic in opium.

verb (used with object)

• traffics,
  present (3rd person singular)
• trafficked,
  past participle,  past
• trafficking
  present participle

1. (of vehicles or persons) to move over or through (a place).

   It's a heavily trafficked bridge.

2. to trade or deal in (a commodity or service).

   to traffic guns.

3. to trade in (human beings) for the purpose of exploitation.

   He was convicted for trafficking illegal immigrants.

traffic British  

/ ˈtræfɪk /

noun

1. 1. the vehicles coming and going in a street, town, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      traffic lights

2. the movement of vehicles, people, etc, in a particular place or for a particular purpose

   sea traffic

3. 1. the business of commercial transportation by land, sea, or air

   2. the freight, passengers, etc, transported

4. (usually foll by with) dealings or business

   have no traffic with that man

5. trade, esp of an illicit or improper kind

   drug traffic

6. the aggregate volume of messages transmitted through a communications system in a given period

7. the number of customers patronizing a commercial establishment in a given time period

---

verb

1. (often foll by in) to carry on trade or business, esp of an illicit kind

2. (usually foll by with) to have dealings

Synonym Usage

See trade.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• intertraffic
  noun
• trafficker
  noun
• trafficless
  adjective
• untrafficked
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• traffic
  plural

Participles

• trafficking
  present
• trafficked
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• traffic
  simple
• traffics
  simple
• have trafficked
  perfect
• has trafficked
  perfect
• am trafficking
  progressive
• are trafficking
  progressive
• is trafficking
  progressive
• have been trafficking
  perfect progressive
• has been trafficking
  perfect progressive

Past

• trafficked
  simple
• had trafficked
  perfect
• was trafficking
  progressive
• were trafficking
  progressive
• had been trafficking
  perfect progressive

Future

• will traffic
  simple
• will have trafficked
  perfect
• will be trafficking
  progressive
• will have been trafficking
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of traffic

First recorded in 1495–1505; earlier traffyk, from Middle French trafique (noun), trafiquer; (verb) from Italian traffico (noun), trafficare (verb), of disputed origin

Explanation

If you drive during rush hour, you're likely to hit some heavy traffic, and if you get stuck in a big traffic jam, you'll definitely be late. It's not just cars that create traffic — a large number of anything trying to occupy the same space adds up to traffic. Internet providers may see a lot of traffic when there's big news and everyone is trying to sign on to find out what happened. Pedestrians also create traffic, like those walking past your new burrito palace and pet costume shop. While your business may be perfectly respectable, you would want to watch out for people who traffic stolen goods and illegal drugs. In that sense, traffic acts as a verb indicating you're trading something, often illegally.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

traffic traffics trafficked trafficking

The crews who take to the air in Los Angeles must not only navigate each other, but air traffic to three regional airports and smaller, local air strips across the Southland when doing their job.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

The routers and switches in a telecom network are the same underlying technology as those in a data-center network, though the speeds and volume of traffic are drastically different.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026

Flyers’ attempts to beat traffic and get a few more hours at the exclusive summer enclave are rattling the windows of people who believed they had earned a slice of suburban tranquility.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026

This will be a very different task for Maresca's men, with the emphasis on them breaking down the Black Cats, but I don't feel it will just be one-way traffic.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

But as the delivery truck continued, the traffic became lighter, the buildings became smaller, and the landscape became greener.

From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown

First I thought of Spanish rock star and longtime Los Angeles resident Enrique Bunbury, who himself traffics in the diffuse territories of the ominous and esoteric.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026

Consign Design traffics in luxury labels like Brunello, Prada, Gucci and Hermès, along with top-drawer skiwear, while Capelet Consign brims with AG, Theory, Veronica Beard and Ulla Johnson.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 3, 2025

Genre fiction traffics in extremes that make certain scenarios seem impossible.

From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2024

It’s especially fitting for “Turtles,” a movie based on a book propped up by an ever-expanding young-adult canon that traffics in the romance of pain and the pain of romance.

From New York Times ● May 2, 2024

There are those who expect to gain riches by fraud and deceit, in pursuits and traffics on which the laws of truth, love, and justice, must ever darkly frown.

From Small Means and Great Ends by M. H. (Mary Hall) Adams

The precious objects were spirited out and trafficked abroad, including to the US.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

Much of the gold in the region is trafficked through global supply chains, a 2024 SwissAid report found.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

She called on Ukraine and the leaders of other countries whose citizens were trafficked to provide evidence of this "human trafficking" to prosecute those responsible.

From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026

It’s not clear when the trafficked animals might join the roughly 12,000 turtles, frogs, octopuses, penguins, sharks and other sea creatures currently on public display.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

In fact, “Wanderlust” would be considered obscure and little trafficked, as poems go.

From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood

However, officials have not offered definitive evidence that the vessels targeted are involved in trafficking.

From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026

She says she would expand intelligence-sharing with Washington, work with U.S. agencies and the Coast Guard against drug trafficking and coordinate with Colombia to dismantle criminal groups on the border.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026

The billionaire has said he did not know about Epstein's crimes until he was charged with sex trafficking in July 2019.

From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026

In 2019, a Thai court dismissed the case against suspected wildlife trafficking kingpin Boonchai Bach.

From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026

The government forbade any trafficking in Indian antiquities and had given the priest a general concession, authorizing him to catalogue whatever he found and hand it over to the museum.

From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende

Related Words

• freight
• gridlock
• influx
• movement
• service
• shipment
• transit
• transport
• transportation
• travel