field trip

American  

noun

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.

---

field trip British  

noun

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

---

Etymology

Origin of field trip

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

Between blocks of talks, attendees partake in activities from the glacier show-and-tell to an iNaturalist BioBlitz in Stanley Park to a field trip to the local Renaissance faire.

From Slate • May 8, 2026

That was in 1992, and we actually took the cadets on a field trip to Los Alamos where the first nuclear weapon had largely been developed.

From Salon • Dec. 7, 2025

The world's finance ministers on their field trip to Washington have had to assume the world economy will muddle through this.

From BBC • Oct. 19, 2025

That interest is clear as Dyer takes in the humdrum slice-of-life shuffling about at a yawn’s pace from the waiting area on our recent field trip.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 13, 2025

She had sent me a postcard with a picture of the capitol building where my class had gone on a field trip.

From "Wish" by Barbara O'Connor