tripe
Americannoun
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the first and second divisions of the stomach of a ruminant, especially oxen, sheep, or goats, used as food.
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Slang. something, especially speech or writing, that is false or worthless; rubbish.
noun
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the stomach lining of an ox, cow, or other ruminant, prepared for cooking
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informal something silly; rubbish
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archaic (plural) intestines; belly
Etymology
Origin of tripe
First recorded in 1250–1300; 1885–90 tripe for def. 2; Middle English, from Old French, perhaps from Vulgar Latin trippa (unrecorded), of expressive origin
Explanation
Tripe is a kind of meat that consists of an animal's stomach lining. It may sound gross, but your tasty breakfast sausage may include a bit of tripe. While tripe isn't commonly found on most restaurant menus, it turns up more often than you might think. Breakfast sausages usually include beef and pork tripe, and international dishes from Korean stews to Mexican tacos to Eritrean stir-fries can all contain tripe. In Old French, tripe meant "guts" or "entrails used as food," and in the 1500s it came to informally mean "worthless person." Today, tripe is also "any nonsense or rubbish," particularly if it's written or spoken.
Vocabulary lists containing tripe
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
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Grendel
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The Taming of the Shrew
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Though foie gras is hardly a classic Chinese dish, the cuisine includes duck and meat innards such as tripe, helping local foodies embrace the French creation.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 13, 2026
He longs for colorful Día de los Muertos celebrations, and the greasy taste of tripe tacos.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 1, 2024
He posted on X "That speech of Robert Jenrick's was lazy, mendacious, simplistic tripe."
From BBC • Oct. 6, 2024
At a counter in a central Mexico City market, Arturo García leaned over a steaming bowl of tripe stew on a recent morning.
From Seattle Times • May 23, 2024
What you can have now, missus, is black pudding and tripe or a sheep’s head or a nice pig’s head.
From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
