trunk or treat

noun

variants or Trunk or Treat or trunk-or-treat

ˈtrəŋk-ər-ˈtrēt 

or Trunk-or-Treat

plural trunk or treats or Trunk or Treats or trunk-or-treats or Trunk-or-Treats

: a Halloween event or practice that usually takes place in a parking lot and in which children wearing costumes collect candy or other treats from the often decorated trunks of participating vehicles

To be certain, trunk or treat is nothing new and has been occurring for decades often in the form of church-based fall festivals.

—John Sharp

If my kids so choose, they can dress up, and we'll attend a trunk-or-treat or go trick-or-treating.

—Rachel Garlinghouse

—sometimes used before another noun

… getting to see people in her community come together with their kids is the best part of the trunk or treat event …

—Hasina Shah

Different Halloween activities and trunk-or-treat stations will be set up at multiple locations around town.

—Patrick Holleron and Leah Rainwater

compare trick or treat

trunk or treat intransitive verb

or trunk-or-treat

trunk or treated or trunk-or-treated; trunk or treating or trunk-or-treating; trunk or treats or trunk-or-treats

Kids made their way down the street, trunk or treating at 40 creatively decorated vehicles, each offering a sweet treat or fun toy.

—Taren Powell

trunk or treater noun

or trunk-or-treater

plural trunk or treaters or trunk-or-treaters

A … prize will be given away to one lucky trunk-or-treater who visits each trunk …

—Morgan Starling

trunk or treating noun

or trunk-or-treating

Halloween on Granado Street will feature several activities such as trunk-or-treating, … food trucks, games, a haunted maze, a pet parade, a costume contest and a photo booth.

—Sarah Rubinstein

Word History

First Known Use

1989, in the meaning defined above