field trip

American  

noun

• field trips
  plural

1. a trip by students to gain firsthand knowledge away from the classroom, as to a museum, factory, geological area, or environment of certain plants and animals.

2. a trip by a scholar or researcher to gather data firsthand, as to a geological, archaeological, anthropological, or other site.

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field trip British  

noun

1. an expedition, as by a group of students or research workers, to study something at first hand

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• field trips
  plural

Etymology

Origin of field trip

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

field trip

First, though, they participated in the same kinds of experiments that grade-schoolers might try on a field trip.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

As a former interpretive naturalist for the Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve, he even led a field trip for the Forest Service, BLM and State Parks to highlight the ecological damage.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026

For many, the Colonial Williamsburg experience begins and ends with a school field trip.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026

Democratic Party fundraiser Charles Myers is organizing a post-Maduro field trip to Venezuela with about 20 hedge funders and asset managers to scout investment opportunities in “oil and gas,” “construction,” and “tourism.”

From Slate ● Jan. 5, 2026

She is the name Mom wrote on the field trip permission form.

From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko