English
trip
Etymology 1

From Middle English trippen, perhaps from Old French triper, from a Frankish - source; or alternatively from Middle Dutch trippen (> Modern Dutch trippelen).

Pronunciation
  • enPR: trĭp, IPA: /tɹɪp/, [tʰɹɪp], /t͜ʃɹɪp/
Noun

trip (plural trips)

  1. A journey; an excursion or jaunt.
    We made a trip to the beach.
    • 1918, Ralph Henry Barbour, Lost Island:
      I sold my horse and took a trip to Ceylon and back on an Orient boat as a passenger,
    • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC ↗:
      We made an odd party before the arrival of the Ten, particularly when the Celebrity dropped in for lunch or dinner. He could not be induced to remain permanently at Mohair because Miss Trevor was at Asquith, but he appropriated a Hempstead cart from the Mohair stables and made the trip sometimes twice in a day.
  2. A stumble or misstep.
    He was injured due to a trip down the stairs.
  3. (figurative, archaic) An error; a failure; a mistake.
    Synonyms: Thesaurus:error
    • 1671, John Milton, “(please specify the page)”, in Paradise Regain'd. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC ↗:
      Imperfect words, with childish trips.
    • 1767, Walter Harte, The amaranth; or, Religious poems:
      Each seeming trip, and each digressive start.
  4. (colloquial) A period of time in which one experiences drug-induced reverie or hallucinations.
    He had a strange trip after taking LSD.
  5. (by extension) Intense involvement in or enjoyment of a condition.
    ego trip
    power trip
    nostalgia trip
    guilt trip
  6. A faux pas, a social error.
  7. (engineering) A mechanical cutout device.
  8. (electricity) A trip-switch or cut-out.
    It's dark because the trip operated.
  9. A quick, light step; a lively movement of the feet; a skip.
    trip the light fantastic
    • 1814 July 6, [Walter Scott], Waverley; or, 'Tis Sixty Years Since. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh:  […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC ↗:
      His heart bounded as he sometimes could distinctly hear the trip of a light female step glide to or from the door.
  10. (obsolete) A small piece; a morsel; a bit.
    Synonyms: Thesaurus:modicum
  11. The act of tripping someone, or causing them to lose their footing.
    • 1697, Virgil, “Georgic II”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC ↗:
      And watches with a trip his foe to foil.
  12. (nautical) A single board, or tack, in plying, or beating, to windward.
Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations
  • German: Trip (pejorative)
Translations Translations
  • German: Getrippel
Translations Verb

trip (trips, present participle tripping; simple past and past participle tripped)

  1. (intransitive) To fall over or stumble over an object as a result of striking it with one's foot
    Be careful not to trip on the tree roots.
  2. (transitive, sometimes followed by "up") To cause (a person or animal) to fall or stumble by knocking their feet from under them.
    A pedestrian was able to trip the burglar as he was running away.
    • 1912 October, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Tarzan of the Apes”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC ↗; republished as chapter 5, in Tarzan of the Apes, New York, N.Y.: A. L. Burt Company, 1914 June, →OCLC ↗:
      Early in his boyhood he had learned to form ropes by twisting and tying long grasses together, and with these he was forever tripping Tublat or attempting to hang him from some overhanging branch.
  3. (intransitive) To be guilty of a misstep or mistake; to commit an offence against morality, propriety, etc
    • c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood, editor, John Skelton: The Complete English Poems, 1983, →OCLC ↗, page 66, lines 152–155:
      And the Pharasay / Then durst nothynge say, / But let the matter slyp, / And made truth to tryp;
    • 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], “Remedies of the Imperfection and Abuse of Words”, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC ↗, book III, page 250 ↗:
      [T]ill his Tongue trips
    • 1692–1717, Robert South, “Discourse upon 2 Thessalonians ii.II”, in Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:
      A blind will thereupon comes to be led by a blind understanding; there is no remedy, but it must trip and stumble.
    • 1697, Virgil, translated by John Dryden, The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC ↗:
      Virgil is so exact in every word that none can be changed but for a worse; he pretends sometimes to trip, but it is to make you think him in danger when most secure.
  4. (transitive, obsolete) To detect in a misstep; to catch; to convict.
    • 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act V, scene v]:
      These her women can trip me if I err.
  5. (transitive) To activate or set in motion, as in the activation of a trap, explosive, or switch.
    When we get into the factory, trip the lights.
  6. (intransitive) To be activated, as by a signal or an event
    The alarm system tripped, throwing everyone into a panic.
  7. Of an electrical circuit, to trip out (through overload, a short circuit).
  8. (intransitive) To experience a state of reverie or to hallucinate, due to consuming psychoactive drugs.
    After taking the LSD, I started tripping about fairies and colors.
  9. (intransitive) To journey, to make a trip.
    Last summer, we tripped to the coast.
  10. (intransitive, dated) To move with light, quick steps; to walk or move lightly; to skip.
    • a. 1645, John Milton, “L'Allegro”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC ↗:
      Come, and trip it, as ye go, / On the light fantastic toe.
    • 1687, [John Dryden], “(please specify the page number)”, in The Hind and the Panther. A Poem, in Three Parts, 2nd edition, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC ↗:
      She bounded by, and tripped so light / They had not time to take a steady sight.
    • 1819 June 23, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “The Wife”, in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., number I, New York, N.Y.: […] C[ornelius] S. Van Winkle, […], →OCLC ↗, page 53 ↗:
      A bright beautiful face glanced out at the window, and vanished—a light footstep was heard—and Mary came tripping forth to meet us.
  11. (nautical) To raise (an anchor) from the bottom, by its cable or buoy rope, so that it hangs free.
  12. (nautical) To pull (a yard) into a perpendicular position for lowering it.
  13. (slang, AAVE, most commonly used in the form tripping) To become unreasonably upset, especially over something unimportant; to cause a scene or a disruption.
Translations Translations
  • French: faire un croche-pied
  • German: ein Bein stellen, zum Stolpern bringen
  • Portuguese: tropeçar, dar uma rasteira
  • Russian: подставлять подножку
  • Spanish: hacer topezar, hacer trastabillar, poner la zancadilla, meter la zancadilla, zancadillear, meter cabe (Peru)
Translations Translations Translations Adjective

trip (not comparable)

  1. (poker slang) Of or relating to trips three of a kind.
Etymology 2

From Middle English tryppe, from Old French trippe.

Noun

trip (plural trips)

  1. (obsolete, UK, Scotland, dialect) A herd or flock of sheep, goats, etc.
  2. (obsolete) A troop of men; a host.
  3. A flock of wigeons.


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