trucking

English

Etymology

From truck +‎ -ing.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹʌkɪŋ/
• Rhymes: -ʌkɪŋ

Noun

trucking (countable and uncountable, plural truckings)

1. (now rare) Trading, bartering.
   • 1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, Kupperman, published 1988, page 143:

     This they were wont to use also for hatchets, but now by trucking they have plentie of the same forme of yron.

2. (US) the conveyance of freight by trucks.
3. (broadcasting) Lateral movement of the camera.
4. moving quickly
   • 1973, Nuclear News, Volume 16, Issue 2‎^[1], page 88:

     Truckin,' he says, means moving along with zest and enjoying it

   • 2009, Laura Jacobs, The Bird Catcher‎^[2], page 115:

     I could've killed that kid. I mean, I was really truckin'. So I blow out my knee to save his life and I'm on the ground in a swastika, and the mother just grabs his hand and keeps walking.

5. walking
   • 1975 Steve Netherby, Camping, Field & Stream Magazine Nov 1975 issue, page 130

     Most backpackers don't realize that on every hike, usually without thinking about it, they walk on their stomach - with Vibram-soled boots. The way Napoleon said an army marches on its tum-tum. The food we drop into our stomach is what keeps us truckin'. Body fuel. It supplies calories to keep our legs moving

   • 2010 Thomas Bruso, AC TRANSIT BUS FIGHT-- Interview w Tom (Epic Beard Man) doghousefm 1 minute 30 seconds

     I walked away, you saw me trucking. Trucking means walking.

   • 2010, Martin Avery, Brigit's Bardo: 40 Dates And 40 Nights‎^[3]:

     I walk arm in arm with buddies, stepping together like Mr. Natural, trucking along

   • 2011, Alen Axelrod, The Cheaper the Crook, the Gaudier the Patter: Forgotten Hipster Lines, Tough Guy Talk, and Jive Gems‎^[4], page 80:

     Truck - Used as a verb, it means to go somewhere. "Let's truck down to the Cotton Club." The etymology of the word seems obvious enough: to truck is to transport or carry, so the sense here is to transport or carry oneself somewhere.

   • 2013, John Bassett Mccleary, Hippie Dictionary: A Cultural Encyclopedia of the 1960s and 1970s‎^[5], page 535:

     trucking or truckin' moving along at one's own pace, in one's own, individual way. The walking style performed by Mr. Natural in the Zap Comics, drawn by R. Crumb. A term popularized by the Grateful Dead in their 1971 song "Truckin'."

   • 2014, Joe De Sena, Spartan Up!: A Take-No-Prisoners Guide to Overcoming Obstacles and Achieving Peak Performance in Life‎^[6], page 122:

     Much of the race wound steeply through mountain passes, and she passed me with a backward-looking grin during the first hours of the race, so you know she was truckin' along pretty well.

   • 2016, Lyla Payne, Not Quite Right‎^[7], page 173:

     I grab my coat, purse, and keys and hightail it out the front door. "Hey that, Crazy Gracie, Where ya headin'?" I slam back against the door, my feet slipping in fright, but it's not long before Clete's obvious presence makes me realize I don't need to run for my life. Today. "Clete you little cotton picker. You scared the shit out of me!" "Sorry, darlin', was gonna ring tha bell but ya came truckin' out like ya were on fire."

Synonyms

• freight (verb, transitive)

Related terms

• cattle trucking

Verb

trucking

1. present participle and gerund of truck