Forms: see TROT sb.1; also 5 tret. [ME. a. OF. troter (12th c. in Hatz.-Darm.), F. trotter (Prov., Sp., Pg. trotar, It. trottare) to TROT. A med.L. deriv. trottare appears c. 1150 in Thesaurus of Thomas.]
I. 1. intr. Of a horse, and occasionally other quadrupeds: To go at the gait called the trot (see TROT sb.1 1). Also said of a man.
To trot all (see ALL C. 4), altogether (ALTOGETHER B. 2), high (HIGH adv. 1 b), large (LARGE B. 6), rough (ROUGH adv. 1), short (SHORT C. 4); to trot out, to trot with extended action (opposed to trot short).
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. II. 135. Fauuel fette forþ Foles of þe beste, And sette … fals on a sysoures backe þat softly trotted.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Merch. T., 294. No man fynden shal Noon in this world, that trotteth [v.r. (Petw. MS.) treteþ] hool in al Ne man ne beest.
c. 1410. Master of Game (MS. Digby 182), iv. Somtyme þei [roe-deer] trotteth and goth a paas.
14[?]. Beryn, 939. As hors þat evir trottid … It were hard to make hym aftir to ambill well.
c. 1450. Merlin, 279. A Curroure trollynge on foote.
1553. T. Wilson, Rhet., 61. Trotte sire and trotte damme, how should the fole amble?
c. 1566. Merie Tales of Skelton, in S.’s Wks. (1843), I. p. lx. Hee was a litell olde fellowe, and woulde lye as fast as a horse woulde trotte.
1633. Marmion, Antiquary, I. You’ll hardly find … beast that trots sound of all four: There will be some defect.
1674. Lond. Gaz., No. 882/4. A light gray Mare about fourteen hands high, five years old, trots altogether. Ibid. (1675), No. 959/4. A Brown Bay Nag,… Trots all. Ibid. (1676), No. 1107/4. Gray Mare,… trots rough. Ibid. (1677), No. 1222/4. A Sorrel Chesnut Gelding…, paces little, but trotteth high.
1706. Trot out [see SHORT C. 4].
1856. Miss Mulock, J. Halifax, ii. He took me on his back … and fairly trotted with me down the garden-walk.
1859. Geo. Eliot, A. Bede, I. i. Gyp with his basket, trotting at his master’s heels.
1883. H. Craig, in Harper’s Mag., Aug., 346/1. She trotted a mile in the unparalleled time of 2.101/4.
1897. Daily Chron., 23 Aug., 8/3. I trotted down the wicket very slowly.
b. transf. Of a rider, etc., or of a vehicle.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Wife’s Prol., 838. Amble, or trotte [v.r. trote], or pees, or go sit doun, Thou lettest oure disport.
a. 1450. Le Morte Arth., 3339. Arthur with knyghtis fully xiiij … With helme, sheld, And hauberke shene; Ryght so they trotted vppon þe grownde.
1599. Shaks., Hen. V., III. vii. 86. I will trot to morrow a mile.
c. 1682. Claverhouse, in 15th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. VIII. 270. The smith at Menegaff,… after whom the forces has troted so often.
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, III. xix. (Roxb.), 186/2. Words of command about wheelings of Horsmen…. Trot large, and wheele to the left.
1807. Crabbe, Par. Reg., I. 487. Who trots to market on a steed so fine.
1833. Regul. Instr. Cavalry, I. 66. ‘Trot Out’—Increase gradually to the trot of manœuvre, 81/2 miles per hour. When steady, ‘Trot Short’—Collect the horses to the school pace again.
1833. T. Hook, Parson’s Dau., I. iii. At Windsor … a royal coach may be often seen trotting about the town.
1913. Times, 14 May, 6/2. The Brigade was an imposing picture as it trotted past the King.
c. transf. and fig.
c. 1430. Pilgr. Lyf Manhode, III. xl. (1869), 157. Alwey j muste make the chyn trotte, and the throte gaape.
1600. Shaks., A. Y. L., III. ii. 331. Time … trots hard with a yong maid, between the contract of her marriage, and the day it is solemnizd.
1612. Dekker, If it be not Good, Wks. 1873, III. 275. Vncle write that. Oct. Fast as my pen can trot.
1671. R. MacWard, True Nonconf., 273. Your loftie Pindarick … doth trote more rudely, and lamely, then our hobling meeter.
a. 1758. Ramsay, Generous Gentl., iii. She lean’d upon a flow’ry brae, By which a burnie trotted.
1852. Thackeray, Esmond, II. xi. We college poets trot … on very easy nags.
1893. Saltus, Madam Sapphira, 31. A woman is never led astray. She trots, or gallops or bolts astray, but never is she led.
† d. In the alliterative phrases trot and tremble, tremble and trot. Obs. rare.
c. 1425. Cast. Persev., 459, in Macro Plays, 91. Now I sytte in my semly sale; I trotte & tremle in my trew trone.
c. 1485. Digby Myst. (1882), III. 555. A! how I tremyl and trott for ȝese tydynges!
2. intr. To go or move quickly; to go briskly or busily; to bustle; to run. Also refl., and with it. Now colloq., implying short, quick motion in a limited area. Cf. TODDLE v. 2 b.
Also trans. in to trot one’s terms, at Durham University, to keep one’s terms as a day-student: cf. TROTTER 2.
c. 1416. Hoccleve, Balade to Henry V, 8. The scantnesse [of gold] Wole arte vs three to trotte vn-to Newgate.
c. 1440. York Myst., xxviii. 204. Do trottes on for that traytoure apas.
1530. Palsgr., 763/1. I have doone naught sythe syxe of the clocke in the mornyng but trotte aboute from place to place.
a. 1553. C. Bansley, Treat., xii. (Percy Soc.), 5. Sponge up your vysage, olde bounsynge trotte, and tricke it wyth the beste, Tyll you tricke and trotte youre selfe to the devyls trounsynge neste.
1581. T. Howell, Deuises, E ij b. Wante makes the olde wyfe trot.
c. 1645. Howell, Lett. (1753), 126. Som … find the Table ready laid; but som Must for their commons trot.
a. 1704. T. Brown, Alsop’s State of Conform., Wks. 1711, IV. 116. If you’d have me trot it to the East-Indies,… ’tis no sooner said, than done.
1774. C. Keith, Farmer’s Ha! lx. Now lasses round the ingle trot, To make the brose.
1825. T. Hook, Sayings, Ser. II. Man of Many Fr. (Colburn), 125. I will trot myself off for the moment, and be back immediately.
1863. Mrs. C. Clarke, Shaks. Char., xvi. 402. She … will keep her husband trotting.
1883. Durham Univ. Jrnl., 17 Dec., 141. ‘To trot one’s terms’ was, we believe originally, a Dublin phrase.
† 3. trans. a. To trot upon (something) (rare).
b. To make, describe, or execute by trotting; to go through at a trot. c. To follow, traverse (a path) as if by trotting (rare). Obs.
1599. Shaks., Hen. V., III. vii. 16. My horse … boundes from the Earth … he trots the ayre.
1602. Marston, Antonio’s Rev., III. i. Wks. 1856, I. 104. The black jades of swart night trot foggy rings Bout heavens browe.
1612. Two Noble K., V. iv. 68. On this horse is Arcite Trotting the stones of Athens.
1633. Ford, ’Tis Pity, I. ii. I have seen an ass and a mule trot the Spanish pavin with a better grace.
1638. Sir T. Herbert, Trav., 58. He … was … compell’d to trot the knotty path of inevitable destinie.
4. trans. To cause to trot; to lead or ride at the trot. Also fig.
1592. Warner, Alb. Eng., VIII. xxxviii. (1612), 189. Whether that he trots, or turnes, or bounds his barded Steede.
a. 1628. G. Carleton, Life B. Gilpin (1636), 66. He commanded William Airy … to trott the horses up and downe.
1684. R. H., School Recreat., 21. Trot him about in your hand a good while; Then offer to mount.
1884. Daily Chron., 25 Oct. (Cassell’s). The whips trotted the pack to Gravel-hill.
1886. Sat. Rev., 6 March, 315/1. The public … is being trotted up and down in front of Home Rule in the belief that, like a nervous horse, it can be familiarized with the alarming object.
b. To trot out: To lead out and show off the paces of (a horse); hence fig. to bring forward (a person, an opinion, etc.) for or as for inspection or approval; to exhibit, show off. colloq.
1838. Lytton, Alice, VII. ii. His guest, to be shown off … and trotted out before all the rest of the company.
1841. Sir G. Stephen, Adv. Search Horse (ed. 6), p. xxiv. A little cross-bred, vicious beast … was ‘trotted out’ before a circle of ladies and gentlemen, to be admired. Ibid., ii. 46. He is trotted out, admired, and purchased.
1848. Thackeray, Bk. Snobs, xxv. She began to trot out scraps of French.
1884. Manch. Exam., 20 Aug., 5/1. The fine old historical commonplaces were trotted out.
c. To draw out (a person) in conversation so that he appears ridiculous; to make game of, make a butt of. Chiefly with out.
1818. Blackw. Mag., III. 527. Menippus, accordingly, would fain trot Dr. Chalmers.
1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair, xxxiv. You want to trot me out, but it’s no go.
1888. Burgon, Lives 12 Gd. Men, II. x. 298. [He] trotted out his neighbour to his heart’s content.
d. To conduct or escort (a person) to or round a place. To trot out (a woman), to walk out with, as a lover. slang.
1888. ‘J. S. Winter,’ Bootle’s Childr., xiv. I’ve trotted ’em out, all sorts of girls—but I never could … tie myself to any one of ’em.
1898. ‘H. S. Merriman,’ Roden’s Corner, vi. 60. Perhaps you’ll trot us round the works.
1902. Daily Chron., 23 Aug., 6/7. He gave religious instruction … in his school, and on saints’ days ‘trotted’ the children to church.
e. To jog (a child) on one’s knee; to ‘give a ride’ to.
1853. Hawthorne, Tanglewood Tales (Chandos), 193. He had trotted him on his knee when a baby.
1887. Aug. J. E. Wilson, At Mercy of Tiberius, 79. I trotted her on my knee.
II. 5. intr. To fish with a trot-line. (Perhaps a different word: cf. TROT sb.1 6.) dial.
1864. Daily Tel., 18 May. They are trawlers, trotters, dredgers, and shrimpers, and their fathers have trawled, trotted, dredged, and shrimped ever since Earl Godwin.
1884. St. James’s Gaz. 18 Jan., 6/2. The eel-spearer … digging himself a good supply of bait, goes ‘trotting’ for flounders.
