Shlepped

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Moved something or someone reluctantly or with difficulty, often carrying a heavy load
2. Transported or hauled an object awkwardly or with great exertion
3. Dragged or lugged something around, usually implying tiredness or annoyance

Etymology: "Shlepped" is the past tense and past participle of "shlep," which means to drag or haul something along, often with effort. The verb "shlep" came into English from Yiddish, where it is related to a German verb meaning to drag or to pull. Its roots run through the Germanic languages, and in Yiddish it carried the sense of hauling a heavy load, a meaning it kept when speakers of Yiddish brought it into American English. The surprise is how far the word has traveled from a single physical act. In English, "shlep" is used of carrying baggage across an airport or lugging groceries up several flights of stairs, and it often implies tedium as well as weight. Someone who has shlepped a suitcase through three train stations has done more than move it: they have endured the journey. That emotional coloring, of work made tiresome by distance and burden, is part of what English speakers took from the Yiddish original.

Synonyms: carried, hauled