- traffic
- [[t]træ̱fɪk[/t]]
♦♦♦traffics, trafficking, trafficked1) N-UNCOUNT: also the N Traffic refers to all the vehicles that are moving along the roads in a particular area.→ See also traffic jam
There was heavy traffic on the roads...
Traffic was unusually light for that time of day.
...the problems of city life, such as traffic congestion.
2) N-UNCOUNT: with supp, usu n N Traffic refers to the movement of ships, trains, or aircraft between one place and another. Traffic also refers to the people and goods that are being transported.→ See also air traffic controlAir traffic had returned to normal...
The railways will carry a far higher proportion of freight traffic...
The ferries can cope with the traffic of both goods and passengers.
3) N-UNCOUNT: with supp, usu N in n Traffic in something such as drugs or stolen goods is an illegal trade in them.Traffic in illicit drugs was now worth some 500 thousand million dollars a year.
4) VERB Someone who traffics in something such as drugs or stolen goods buys and sells them even though it is illegal to do so.[V in n] The president said illegal drugs are hurting the entire world and anyone who traffics in them should be brought to justice.
Derived words:trafficking N-UNCOUNT usu n NHe was sentenced to ten years in prison on charges of drug trafficking.
...the trafficking of illegal weapons.
English dictionary. 2008.
