trek

[trek] /trɛk/
verb (used without object), trekked, trekking.
1.
to travel or migrate, especially slowly or with difficulty.
2.
South Africa. to travel by ox wagon.
verb (used with object), trekked, trekking.
3.
South Africa. (of a draft animal) to draw (a vehicle or load).
noun
4.
a journey or trip, especially one involving difficulty or hardship.
5.
South Africa. a migration or expedition, as by ox wagon.
6.
South Africa. a stage of a journey, especially by ox wagon, between one stopping place and the next.
Origin
1815-25; < Afrikaans < Dutch trek (noun), trekken (v.) to draw (a vehicle or load), migrate
Related forms
untrekked, adjective
Examples from the web for trek
  • But descendants of its émigré cousins may soon be making the long trek home.
  • Medical students would trek long distances to watch a dissection performed.
  • Once embarked upon, his journey became as much an existential quest as a natural-history trek.
  • Those unable to bear that burden must think twice, and then again, before making the trek.
  • Families trek to the cemetery to remember dead loved ones.
  • It's going to be a slow, arduous trek back into swimming shape.
  • The twice-yearly trek has shaped nomadic life here for centuries.
  • Finally he called a neighbor to come over and join the daily trek.
  • Their feet are dusty and cracked from the trek into government-held areas.
  • It's no longer possible to do the trek independently.
British Dictionary definitions for trek

trek

/trɛk/
noun
1.
a long and often difficult journey
2.
(South African) a journey or stage of a journey, esp a migration by ox wagon
verb treks, trekking, trekked
3.
(intransitive) to make a trek
4.
(transitive) (South African) (of an ox, etc) to draw (a load)
Derived Forms
trekker, noun
Word Origin
C19: from Afrikaans, from Middle Dutch trekken to travel; related to Old Frisian trekka
Word Origin and History for trek

1849 (n.); 1850 (v.), "to travel or migrate by ox wagon," from Afrikaans trek, from Dutch trekken "to march, journey," originally "to draw, pull," from Middle Dutch trecken (cf. Middle Low German trecken, Old High German trechan "to draw"). Especially in reference to the Groot Trek (1835 and after) of more than 10,000 Boers, who, discontent with the English colonial authorities, left Cape Colony and went north and north-east.