traffic

Main Entry:: ¹traf·fic
Pronunciation:: \ˈtra-fik\
Function:: 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>3archaic : wares , goods4 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 : messages5 a: the passengers or cargo carried by a transportation system b: the business of transporting passengers or freight6: 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

— the traffic will bear

: existing conditions will allow or permit <charge what the traffic will bear>

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