trekking

[ trek-ing ]

noun

1. the act of traveling or migrating slowly or with difficulty, as through rough or unsettled territory:

   Arduous trekking through the Alleghenies caused their Conestoga wagons to break down again and again.

2. the act of hiking long distances as a recreational activity, especially over rough terrain:

   The three hours of hard trekking over the tough trail is worth it for the splendid view of the valley.

3. the act of making a relatively short but difficult or burdensome trip:

   I moved back into a city apartment because I got tired of all the trekking back and forth and the aggravation of having a house and car.

adjective

1. traveling, migrating, or hiking over rough terrain, or making any other difficult or burdensome trip:

   The overuse of resources by trekking tourists is contributing to environmental harm in Nepal and elsewhere.

Word History and Origins

Origin of trekking¹

First recorded in 1845–50; trek ( def ) + -ing ¹( def ) for the noun senses; trek ( def ) + -ing ²( def ) for the adjective sense

Example Sentences

The trek from Rochester will take around seven hours, but there are nonstop flights from Rochester to the Washington area.

From Washington Post

Garcia made the trek north in the spring of 2018 to escape the street gangs and poverty of Huehuetenango, the capital city of the western state of the same name.

From ProPublica

On May 29, 1810, Katherine Fritsch, a sister in the Moravian Church, boarded a coach in Lititz, Pennsylvania, along with a group of her friends and began the 75-mile trek to Philadelphia.

From Nautilus

The only issue with them was on the slippery, snowy parts of the trek.

From Outside Online

In any case, Todbaum parks his supercar in the town square, serves coffee from his special stash and holds forth every day with an endless stream of thrilling stories about his trek across America.

From Washington Post

Part of that, Dr. Khan says, was a direct result of the global trekking PepsiCo is doing.

From The Daily Beast

Trekking at altitude is no easy feat, and each woman pushed herself harder than she thought possible.

From The Daily Beast

This would be their home base while they spent around 10 days trekking through the jungle in search of the perfect new botanical.

From The Daily Beast

On dry land there were dozens of trekking outlets, each offering bike rides, hikes, and laundry service.

From The Daily Beast

A week later—and many more miles of trekking over mountains, across valleys, and through swamps—we found the ruins.

From The Daily Beast

It might be a portrait of Hendry or Sander bonneted in his glengarry, armed with a target, and trekking off with two terriers.

From Project Gutenberg

When two people, trekking together beyond the confines of civilisation fall out, the situation becomes unpleasant.

From Project Gutenberg

I'm going to lie here so that I can keep you children from falling out while we're trekking.

From Project Gutenberg

Little Oliver, who was then only seven months old, also went along, thus early in his life learning what trekking in Africa meant.

From Project Gutenberg

Across the sands of all the world, followed by the sun's flaming sword, to the west, trekking to evening lands.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• itinerant
• roving