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Glite Dictionary
to dodge the traffic

to dodge the traffic

1 3.6
Avoid heavy traffic by taking a different route
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : esquivar el tráfico
  • But only when you're driving me to school, and you're so busy dodging traffic you can't say much.

Examples

  • The cyclist skillfully dodged the traffic while navigating through the congested city streets.

  • Driving yourself to the airport, dodging traffic, and nervously watching the clock adds a layer of stress to the travel experience.

    Blog text (17)

  • Steed dodges traffic.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • CUT TO: Miguel Alvarez runs urgently down Spruce Street, dodging traffic as he crosses Eleventh Street, toward Jefferson Hospital (EXT./DAY).

    Fiction book (1993)

  • He expertly dodged the traffic during his morning commute by taking back roads.

  • As she drove home, she tried to dodge the traffic on the busy highway by using side streets.

Antonyms

to enter
∞ 1.0

To go into a building, room, or area

How Avoidant

to dodge the traffic
1 3.6
to detour
7 3.7

Surface Forms

dodge the traffic infinitive
dodged the traffic past
dodged the traffic past participle
dodging the traffic present participle
dodges the traffic third person singular

Morphology

dodge + the + traffic

The meaning 'to avoid areas of heavy or congested traffic' is directly and compositionally derived from 'dodge' (to move abruptly and avoid something) plus 'traffic' (vehicles/flow), so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words can infer the sense. This is a straightforward verb + noun construction following common avoidance patterns across languages and involves no idiomatic or metaphorical shift.

Etymology

The phrase dodge the traffic comes from the simple image of dodge meaning to move quickly to avoid something and traffic meaning many cars. Imagine a driver slipping down side streets or through small gaps to get away from a crowd of cars; that's why it means 'to avoid areas of heavy traffic'.