trip
1 Americannoun
-
a journey or voyage.
to win a trip to Paris.
-
a journey, voyage, or run made by a boat, train, bus, or the like, between two points.
It's a short trip from Baltimore to Philadelphia.
-
a single journey or course of travel taken as part of one's duty, work, etc..
his daily trip to the bank.
-
a stumble; misstep.
-
a sudden impeding or catching of a person's foot so as to throw the person down, especially in wrestling.
-
a slip, mistake, error, or blunder.
-
an error or lapse in conduct or etiquette.
-
a light, nimble step or movement of the feet.
-
Machinery.
-
a projecting object mounted on a moving part for striking a control lever to stop, reverse, or otherwise control the actions of some machine, as a milling machine or printing press.
-
a sudden release or start.
-
-
a catch of fish taken by a fishing vessel in a single voyage.
-
Slang.
-
an instance or period of being under the influence of a hallucinogenic drug, especially LSD.
-
the euphoria, illusions, etc., experienced during such a period.
-
any stimulating or exciting experience.
The class reunion was a real trip.
-
any intense interest or preoccupation.
She's been on a nostalgia trip all week.
-
a period of time, experience, or lifestyle.
Those early years in college were a bad trip.
-
verb (used without object)
-
trips,
present (3rd person singular)
-
tripped,
past participle, past
-
tripping
present participle
-
to stumble.
to trip over a child's toy.
-
to make a slip, error, or mistake, as in conversation or conduct.
-
to go with a light, quick step or tread.
She tripped gaily across the room.
-
to make a journey or excursion.
-
to tip or tilt.
-
Horology. (of a tooth on an escape wheel) to slide past the face of the pallet by which it is supposed to be locked and strike the pallet in such a way as to move the balance or pendulum improperly.
-
Slang. to be under the influence of a hallucinogenic drug, especially LSD (often followed byout ).
He tripped out on peyote.
verb (used with object)
-
trips,
present (3rd person singular)
-
tripped,
past participle, past
-
tripping
present participle
-
to cause to stumble (often followed byup ).
The rug tripped him up.
-
to cause to fail; hinder, obstruct, or overthrow.
-
to cause to make a slip or error (often followed byup ).
to trip up a witness by skillful questioning.
-
to catch in a slip or error.
-
to tip or tilt.
-
Nautical.
-
to break out (an anchor) by turning over or lifting from the bottom by a line tripping line attached to the anchor's crown.
-
to tip or turn (a yard) from a horizontal to a vertical position.
-
to lift (an upper mast) before lowering.
-
-
to operate, start, or set free (a mechanism, weight, etc.) by suddenly releasing a catch, clutch, or the like.
-
Machinery. to release or operate suddenly (a catch, clutch, etc.).
-
to tread or dance lightly upon (the ground, floor, etc.).
-
Archaic. to perform with a light or tripping step, as a dance.
idioms
-
lay a trip on, to inflict one's preoccupations or obsessions on (another person).
Mother's been trying to lay a guilt trip on me about leaving home.
-
trip the light fantastic, to go dancing.
noun
noun
-
an outward and return journey, often for a specific purpose
-
any tour, journey, or voyage
-
a false step; stumble
-
any slip or blunder
-
a light step or tread
-
a manoeuvre or device to cause someone to trip
-
Also called: tripper.
-
any catch on a mechanism that acts as a switch
-
( as modifier )
trip button
-
-
a surge in the conditions of a chemical or other automatic process resulting in an instability
-
informal a hallucinogenic drug experience
-
informal any stimulating, profound, etc, experience
verb
-
to stumble or cause to stumble
-
to make or cause to make a mistake or blunder
-
to trap or catch in a mistake
-
(intr) to go on a short tour or journey
-
(intr) to move or tread lightly
-
informal (intr) to experience the effects of LSD or any other hallucinogenic drug
-
(tr)
-
to activate (a mechanical trip)
-
to switch electric power off by moving the switch armature to disconnect the supply
-
Synonym Usage
Trip, expedition, journey, pilgrimage, voyage are terms for a course of travel made to a particular place, usually for some specific purpose. Trip is the general word, indicating going any distance and returning, by walking or any means of locomotion, for either business or pleasure, and in either a hurried or a leisurely manner: a trip to Europe; a vacation trip; a bus trip. An expedition, made often by an organized company, is designed to accomplish a specific purpose: an archaeological expedition. Journey indicates a trip of considerable length, wholly or mainly by land, for business or pleasure or other reasons, and is now applied to travel that is more leisurely or more fatiguing than a trip; a return is not necessarily indicated: the long journey to Tibet. A pilgrimage is made as to a shrine, from motives of piety or veneration: a pilgrimage to Lourdes. A voyage is travel by water or air, usually for a long distance and for business or pleasure; if by water, leisure is indicated: a voyage around the world.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
tripsimple
-
tripssimple
-
have trippedperfect
-
has trippedperfect
-
am trippingprogressive
-
are trippingprogressive
-
is trippingprogressive
-
have been trippingperfect progressive
-
has been trippingperfect progressive
Past
-
trippedsimple
-
had trippedperfect
-
was trippingprogressive
-
were trippingprogressive
-
had been trippingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of trip1
First recorded in 1350–1400; 1960–65 trip 1 for def. 12; Middle English trippen “to step lightly,” from Old French trip(p)er, from Middle Dutch; compare early Dutch trippen, Dutch trippelen (frequentative with -el ), akin to Old English treppan “to tread”
Origin of trip2
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English; apparently special use of trip 1 in the sense of “a group moving together,” hence “gang, flock”
Explanation
When you trip, you stumble or lose your footing. As a noun, a trip is a journey or outing, like your trip to the library yesterday or your trip to Japan last summer. You can trip over a bump in the sidewalk, and you can also trip another person, or make them stumble (although it's not very nice to do so on purpose). The 14th-century meaning of the verb was "tread lightly and nimbly, dance, or caper." Experts aren't quite sure how trip got from that to "awkwardly stumble."
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.
See Examples For:
A trip from the UK to Paris in April cost £39,000.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026
She had already been interested in socialism during a post-high school trip to what was then Yugoslavia.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026
The trip sparked a backlash on social media with some questioning the value for money, but Number 10 said security, cost and "operational requirements" were all factored in.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026
"This will be the most closely watched trip of Leo's papacy to date," Christopher White of Georgetown University in Washington and author of a book on Pope Leo, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2026
I’m so surprised, I almost trip over a root.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
It is unclear how much the London to Manchester trip cost, or whether there is a precedent for it, as the Cabinet Office's transparency data for the plane only lists overseas trips.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026
Perseverance was exploring an area filled with scientifically valuable ancient rock formations, so it spent weeks making short trips between locations to examine exposed rock surfaces.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 2, 2026
Pope Leo XIV is about to embark on one of the most ambitious papal foreign trips in decades, touring Uruguay, Argentina and his adopted homeland Peru, despite recent lung cancer surgery.
From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2026
Then he fielded questions from members of the audience, who raised concerns about tenant evictions and taxes in between trips to the buffet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026
So many times I had wanted to leave, to go on exciting trips with Mo. Now I couldn't think of anywhere I'd rather be.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
This month a six-hour blackout struck across the island after the national grid tripped, possibly because solar power generation exceeded consumption.
From Barron's ● Oct. 25, 2026
He ran a short distance then tripped and fell.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2026
Mitch Edelson, the club’s current owner, said he’s proud of that legacy and champions it today — but fears that it may have tripped some kind of content trigger at Meta.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
We are assuming she doesn’t know how to manage her time, but perhaps she is being tripped up by the same task over and over again.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
Members of the audience tripped over theatrical props.
From "The Bad Beginning" by Lemony Snicket
“The de-escalation and fears of tighter global supplies are easing, which is tripping some long liquidation by funds,” Dennis Kissler of BOK Financial says in a note.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
McDonald looked over at Davis at one point, saying, "talk to your lawyer man, this dude is tripping".
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
How quickly the brain and body react after tripping — with your foot automatically thrusting forward, for example, to prevent yourself from face-planting — is what plyometrics trains for.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
In other words, gold tripping that technical level could prompt prices to fall even further as some traders use the indicator as a signal to sell.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
Another time he was more successful, tripping Alex up in the mess hall and sending him flying, along with his tray, cutlery, and steaming plate of stew.
From "Stormbreaker" by Anthony Horowitz
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
