traffic
noun [ U ]
uk/ˈtræfɪk/ us TRANSPORT
all the vehicles that are on a road or all the aircraft, trains, or ships that are along a route or in an area at a particular time:
air/rail/road traffic All commercial air traffic in the area has been cancelled.
Rome has a video tracking system installed to help reduce traffic congestion.
Banks study migration and traffic trends in deciding where to locate branches.
TRANSPORT, COMMERCE
people or goods transported by road, air, train, or ship, as a business:
The loss of passenger and freight traffic to ferries and low cost airlines have forced Eurotunnel to produce yet another recovery programme.
IT
the amount of data moving between computers or systems at a particular time:
We need a telecom infrastructure that can handle fast-growing internet traffic.
They need to convert to broadband to cope with the growing volume of data and voice traffic.
MARKETING
the number of people buying goods or using a service at a particular time:
Many casino companies produced solid earnings from heavy traffic during the New Year's holiday.
The sites that are attracting traffic are professional blogs.
the illegal trade of goods or people:
the brutal trade in human traffic
traffic in/of sth Most of the traffic of narcotics is not detected.
See also
foot traffic
page traffic
store traffic
traffic
verb [ T ]
uk/ˈtræfɪk/ ustrafficking | traffickedto buy and sell goods or people illegally:
He pleaded no contest to trafficking 10,000 pounds of marijuana.
traffic sb/sth somewhere An estimated 600,000 to 800,000 victims are trafficked across international borders each year.
Phrasal verb
traffic in sth