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Glite Dictionary
to have truck with

to have truck with

9.9
To deal with someone you do not approve of
  • phrasal verb
  • Archaic
translation icon : tratar con
  • They refuse to have truck with those who spread false rumors.

Examples

  • No, I wouldn't have truck with the devil over nothing like that.

    Fences (2016)

  • The one you just described is hype and hustle and sizzle and the surface and it's nothing I have truck with in any area.

  • She had truck with the supernatural, to be sure, and she could have changed Amedee's mind with one of her charms.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • Whispering about him behind his back when he was living, and over his grave when he passed on, about him cheating on Stella, God rest her, and having truck with that DeLauter woman.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • I don't have truck with people who are dishonest in their dealings.

  • He claimed not to have truck with any organization that promotes hate.

Antonyms

to avoid
∞ 1.0

To stay away from something or not do it to stop something bad from happening

to disassociate
16 7.0

To end a connection with a person, group, or idea

How Associated

to have truck with
  • Archaic
9.9
to associate
222 3.3
dealings
3.0
contact
826 1.2

Surface Forms

have truck with infinitive
had truck with past
had truck with past participle
having truck with present participle
has truck with third person singular

Morphology

have + truck + with

This expression uses an archaic/idiomatic sense of 'truck' meaning 'dealings' or 'commerce' rather than the modern, literal 'truck' (vehicle). A B1 learner who knows 'have', 'truck' (vehicle), and 'with' would not be able to derive the idiomatic sense 'to have dealings with (often disapprovingly)', so the phrase is not compositionally predictable.

Etymology

The phrase have truck with comes from an old use of the word truck, which once meant 'trade' or 'deal'. Imagine meeting someone to trade goods—if you have truck with them you are doing business with them, and today saying you won't have truck with someone means you refuse to deal with them or you do not approve of them.