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

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

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

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 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

Ben’s Pop came to New York for our field trip.

From "Towers Falling" by Jewell Parker Rhodes