traffic

I. noun Usage: often attributive Etymology: Middle French trafique, from Old Italian traffico, from trafficare to trade in coastal waters Date: 1549 1. a. import and export trade b. the business of bartering or buying and selling c. illegal or disreputable usually commercial activity <

the drug traffic

> 2. a. communication or dealings especially between individuals or groups b. exchange <

a lively traffic in ideas — F. L. Allen

> 3. archaic wares, goods 4. a. (1) the movement (as of vehicles or pedestrians) through an area or along a route (2) the vehicles, pedestrians, ships, or planes moving along a route (3) congestion of vehicles <

stuck in traffic

> b. the information or signals transmitted over a communications system ; messages 5. a. the passengers or cargo carried by a transportation system b. the business of transporting passengers or freight 6. the volume of customers visiting a business establishment <

restaurant traffic

> 7. a concentration of participants or players and especially defensive players <

force difficult shots in traffic

> Synonyms: see business II. verb (trafficked; trafficking) Date: 1540 intransitive verb 1. to carry on traffic 2. to concentrate one's effort or interest; broadly engage, deal <

a writer who often traffics in hyperbole

> transitive verb 1. a. to travel over <

heavily trafficked highways

> b. to visit (as a business establishment) as a customer <

a highly trafficked book store

> 2. trade, barter • trafficker noun