trot

noun

1. Alternative form of Trot (“Trotskyist”).

   “The problem is that the likes of Shapps and his boss Boris Johnson are eager for a fight with the unions. They are being deliberately provocative, so they can portray railway workers as 'troublesome trots'.”

verb

Etymology: From Middle English trotten, from Old French trotter, troter (“to go, trot”), from Medieval Latin *trottō, *trotō (“to go”), from Frankish *trottōn (“to go, run”), from Proto-Germanic *trudōną, *trudaną, *tradjaną (“to go, step, tread”), from Proto-Indo-European *dreh₂- (“to run, escape”). Cognate with Old High German trottōn (“to run”), Modern German trotten (“to trot, plod”), Gothic 𐍄𐍂𐌿𐌳𐌰𐌽 (trudan, “to tread”), Old Norse troða (“to walk, tread”), Old English tredan (“to step, tread”). Doublet of trade and tread.

1. To move along briskly; specifically, to move at a pace between a walk and a run.

   “I didn't want to miss my bus, so I trotted the last few hundred yards to the stop.”

   “The dog trotted along obediently by his master's side.”

2. To move at a gait between a walk and a canter.
3. To cause to move, as a horse or other animal, in the pace called a trot; to cause to run without galloping or cantering.
4. To bid against (a person) at an auction, so as to raise the price of the goods.

   “A particular friend of mine complained that I had "trotted" him at a sale, but he did not see what was happening on the part of the other bidder.”