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shlep

Other forms: shlepping

To shlep is to drag or lug something. If you have to pick up your dog and carry him up the stairs to your apartment, you can say that you need to shlep him.

When you shlep a heavy box down the street, you awkwardly pull it, or you carry it with difficulty. You can also describe your trip along the sidewalk with the heavy box itself as a shlep: "It was such a shlep to get that box over to Adam's house." You can also spell the word schlep, and it comes from a Yiddish root, shlepen, "to drag."

Definitions of shlep
  1. verb
    pull along heavily, like a heavy load against a resistance
    “Can you shlep this bag of potatoes upstairs?”
    synonyms: pull along, schlep
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    types:
    tow
    drag behind
    tug
    tow (a vessel) with a tug
    type of:
    drag
    pull, as against a resistance
  2. verb
    walk or tramp about
    synonyms: traipse
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    type of:
    walk
    use one's feet to advance; advance by steps
  3. noun
    a tedious or difficult journey
    synonyms: schlep
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    type of:
    journey, journeying
    the act of traveling from one place to another
  4. noun
    (Yiddish) an awkward and stupid person
    synonyms: schlep, schlepper, shlepper
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    type of:
    simple, simpleton
    a person lacking intelligence or common sense
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DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘shlep'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
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