trip

/trɪp/

/trɪp/

Other forms: trips; tripped; tripping

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."

Definitions of trip

1. verb

   miss a step and fall or nearly fall
   synonyms: stumble

   types:

   founder

   stumble and nearly fall

   type of:

   move

   move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion
2. verb

   cause to stumble
   “The questions on the test tripped him up”

   synonyms: trip up
3. noun

   an accidental misstep threatening (or causing) a fall
   synonyms: slip

   types:

   fall, spill, tumble

   a sudden drop from an upright position

   pratfall

   a fall onto your buttocks

   wipeout

   a spill in some sport (as a fall from a bicycle or while skiing or being capsized on a surfboard)

   type of:

   misadventure, mischance, mishap

   an instance of misfortune
4. noun

   an unintentional but embarrassing blunder
   “he recited the whole poem without a single trip”

   “he arranged his robes to avoid a trip-up later”

   synonyms: misstep, stumble, trip-up

   type of:

   bloomer, blooper, blunder, boo-boo, botch, bungle, flub, foul-up, pratfall

   an embarrassing mistake
5. noun

   a light or nimble tread
   “he heard the trip of women's feet overhead”

   type of:

   step

   the act of changing location by raising the foot and setting it down
6. noun

   a journey for some purpose (usually including the return)
   “he took a trip to the shopping center”

   types:

   flight

   a scheduled trip by plane between designated airports

   junket

   a trip taken by an official at public expense

   round trip

   a trip to some place and back again

   run

   a regular trip

   run

   a short trip

   trek

   any long and difficult trip

   errand

   a short trip that is taken in the performance of a necessary task or mission

   service call

   a trip made by a repairman to visit the location of something in need of service

   connecting flight

   a flight with an intermediate stop and a change of aircraft (possibly a change of airlines)

   direct flight

   a flight with one or more intermediate stops but no change of aircraft

   domestic flight

   a flight that begins and ends in the same country

   international flight

   a flight that takes off in one country and lands in another

   nonstop, nonstop flight

   a flight made without intermediate stops between source and destination

   redeye, redeye flight

   a night flight from which the passengers emerge with eyes red from lack of sleep

   type of:

   journey, journeying

   the act of traveling from one place to another
7. noun

   an exciting or stimulating experience
   synonyms: head trip

   type of:

   experience

   an event as apprehended
8. noun

   a hallucinatory experience induced by drugs
   type of:

   hallucination

   illusory perception; a common symptom of severe mental disorder
9. verb

   make a trip for pleasure
   synonyms: jaunt, travel

   types:

   junket, junketeer

   go on a pleasure trip

   travel to, visit

   go to certain places as for sightseeing

   journey, travel

   undertake a journey or trip

   ply, run

   travel a route regularly

   commute

   travel back and forth regularly, as between one's place of work and home

   peregrinate

   travel around, through, or over, especially on foot

   live out, sleep out

   work in a house where one does not live

   sightsee

   visit famous or interesting sights

   frequent, haunt

   be a regular or frequent visitor to a certain place

   tour

   make a tour of a certain place

   globe-trot

   travel all over the world for pleasure and sightseeing

   sledge

   ride in or travel with a sledge

   navigate, sail, voyage

   travel on water propelled by wind or by other means

   trek

   make a long and difficult journey

   trek

   journey on foot, especially in the mountains
10. verb

    get high, stoned, or drugged
11. verb

    put in motion or move to act
    synonyms: activate, actuate, set off, spark, spark off, touch off, trigger, trigger off

    type of:

    initiate, pioneer

    take the lead or initiative in; participate in the development of
12. noun

    a catch mechanism that acts as a switch
    synonyms: tripper

    type of:

    catch, stop

    a restraint that checks the motion of something