To plod means to walk slowly and heavily, with steady but tired steps. When you're exhausted after a long day and trudge up the stairs to bed, you're plodding. When a horse pulls a heavy cart along a dirt road, moving steadily but without energy or speed, it's plodding.

The word captures both the physical movement and the feeling behind it: determination mixed with weariness. A hiker might plod up a steep mountain trail, placing one foot in front of the other without excitement but without giving up, either. Students sometimes plod through a difficult homework assignment, working steadily even when the material feels dull or challenging.

Plod can also describe doing any task in a slow, methodical way. A writer might plod along on a novel, making progress but feeling uninspired. While plodding doesn't sound glamorous, there's something respectable about it: a plodder is someone who keeps going even when the work is hard and progress is slow. Sometimes steady plodding gets you further than bursts of enthusiasm that quickly fade.