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

Then, like a field trip, the group walks to church together.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 3, 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

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

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

That’s how I arrived home from our field trip with a letter inviting me to enroll in gymnastics or tumbling classes at Bannon’s.

From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles