trip
1 Americannoun
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a journey or voyage.
to win a trip to Paris.
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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.
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a single journey or course of travel taken as part of one's duty, work, etc..
his daily trip to the bank.
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a stumble; misstep.
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a sudden impeding or catching of a person's foot so as to throw the person down, especially in wrestling.
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a slip, mistake, error, or blunder.
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an error or lapse in conduct or etiquette.
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a light, nimble step or movement of the feet.
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Machinery.
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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.
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a sudden release or start.
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a catch of fish taken by a fishing vessel in a single voyage.
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Slang.
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an instance or period of being under the influence of a hallucinogenic drug, especially LSD.
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the euphoria, illusions, etc., experienced during such a period.
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any stimulating or exciting experience.
The class reunion was a real trip.
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any intense interest or preoccupation.
She's been on a nostalgia trip all week.
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a period of time, experience, or lifestyle.
Those early years in college were a bad trip.
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verb (used without object)
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to stumble.
to trip over a child's toy.
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to make a slip, error, or mistake, as in conversation or conduct.
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to go with a light, quick step or tread.
She tripped gaily across the room.
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to make a journey or excursion.
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to tip or tilt.
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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.
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Slang. to be under the influence of a hallucinogenic drug, especially LSD (often followed byout ).
He tripped out on peyote.
verb (used with object)
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to cause to stumble (often followed byup ).
The rug tripped him up.
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to cause to fail; hinder, obstruct, or overthrow.
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to cause to make a slip or error (often followed byup ).
to trip up a witness by skillful questioning.
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to catch in a slip or error.
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to tip or tilt.
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Nautical.
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to break out (an anchor) by turning over or lifting from the bottom by a line tripping line attached to the anchor's crown.
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to tip or turn (a yard) from a horizontal to a vertical position.
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to lift (an upper mast) before lowering.
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to operate, start, or set free (a mechanism, weight, etc.) by suddenly releasing a catch, clutch, or the like.
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Machinery. to release or operate suddenly (a catch, clutch, etc.).
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to tread or dance lightly upon (the ground, floor, etc.).
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Archaic. to perform with a light or tripping step, as a dance.
idioms
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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.
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trip the light fantastic, to go dancing.
noun
noun
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an outward and return journey, often for a specific purpose
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any tour, journey, or voyage
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a false step; stumble
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any slip or blunder
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a light step or tread
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a manoeuvre or device to cause someone to trip
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Also called: tripper.
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any catch on a mechanism that acts as a switch
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( as modifier )
trip button
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a surge in the conditions of a chemical or other automatic process resulting in an instability
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informal a hallucinogenic drug experience
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informal any stimulating, profound, etc, experience
verb
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to stumble or cause to stumble
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to make or cause to make a mistake or blunder
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to trap or catch in a mistake
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(intr) to go on a short tour or journey
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(intr) to move or tread lightly
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informal (intr) to experience the effects of LSD or any other hallucinogenic drug
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(tr)
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to activate (a mechanical trip)
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to switch electric power off by moving the switch armature to disconnect the supply
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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
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tripsimple
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tripssimple
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have trippedperfect
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has trippedperfect
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am trippingprogressive
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are trippingprogressive
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is trippingprogressive
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have been trippingperfect progressive
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has been trippingperfect progressive
Past
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trippedsimple
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had trippedperfect
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was trippingprogressive
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were trippingprogressive
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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:
The Secret Service intervened on the return trip because the Qatari plane lacked basic defensive countermeasures needed to protect the president amid escalating hostilities with Iran.
From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026
Afterwards, he confirmed to AFP that Min Aung Hlaing would visit Thailand in August, his first such trip to the neighbouring nation since his change of position.
From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026
Instead of capping raucous Bastille Day celebrations in France with a trip to the World Cup final, Deschamps and his squad will travel to Miami to play in the third-place game.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
Chen Youlin, 54, was arrested in November 2024 during a trip to Beijing to visit family, according to hostage advocacy group Global Reach.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
Ba stayed in the store all morning and would be distracted with final preparations for his trip; he wouldn’t notice that I wasn’t around.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
Saar’s studio is packed with relics gathered from sidewalks and swap meets in L.A., and from trips to Marrakesh, Mexico, Nigeria, Haiti and Brazil.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
After multiple trips to various physicians and a CT scan, doctors found an about 2-inch-diameter brain tumor in the right side of her brain.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
To keep shelves in the Manhattan location stocked, Aldi runs three to four of these trips every night, calling the operation a "logistical symphony".
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
The four-term Senator was seeking re-election this year and had recently returned from another of his many trips to Ukraine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
He crawls up swordsmen’s shirts, steals arrows from archers’ backs, and straight-up trips people.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
Hamdi Fathy went to ground claiming he was held by Alexis Mac Allister, which was unclear on replays, while Mohamed Salah felt he was tripped by Julian Alvarez.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
In 2023, McConnell tripped, sustained a concussion, and was away from the Senate for nearly six weeks.
From Slate ● Jul. 2, 2026
At one point, he tripped and fell backward.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
“That’s where people can get really tripped up because they’re going to say, ‘Well, I didn’t sell it,’” said Daniele Griffith, director of tax operations at April, a tax platform for wealth-management firms and banks.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026
She swung open the door to step in, screeched, and tripped herself backing out.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
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
And sometimes, yes, she’s doing the accidental tripping.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
As always, there were some style missteps, and tripping on trains and jostling dress-jams when too many oversized gowns arrived at the same time at the bottom of the famous red carpet steps.
From Barron's ● May 22, 2026
Sonny finds himself tripping over his ineptitude and tangled up in conflicting sympathies—he’s almost as anxious as his hostages, whom he treats with an apologetic kindliness, almost like a party crasher who’s broken a vase.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026
I stumbled backward, tripping on my tail, and sat suddenly on a chocolate-covered cherry.
From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck
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.
