trépigner

From a suffixed form of Old French treper. Cognate with English trape (“to run about idly”).

• IPA^(key): /tʁe.pi.ɲe/

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trépigner

1. (intransitive) to stamp or shuffle one's feet (usually of horses or humans)

   Synonym: piétiner

2. (intransitive, figurative) to wait nervously or angrily
   • 2004 June 1, Jérôme Dupuis, “Comment L'usage du monde est devenu un livre culte”, in L'Express‎:

     C’est justement l’ami Thierry et son épouse Floristella qui ont commandé le champagne, au bar de l’Hôtel de Hollande, rue Cadet, à Paris. Eliane, l’épouse de Nicolas Bouvier, trépigne à leurs côtés.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

3. (transitive) to trample
4. (transitive, figurative) to severely criticize, to speak badly of
5. (transitive, slang, dated) to beat up

• “trépigner”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.