trample

views updated

tram·ple / ˈtrampəl/ • v. [tr.] tread on and crush: the fence had been trampled down | [intr.] her dog trampled on his tulips. ∎  [intr.] (trample on/over) fig. treat with contempt: a drug-testing device that doesn't trample on employees' civil liberties.• n. poetic/lit. an act or the sound of trampling.DERIVATIVES: tram·pler / -p(ə)lər/ n.