What does "trip" mean?
A journey; an excursion or jaunt.
Trip
/tɹɪp/ adj, noun, verb, slang
adj, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A journey; an excursion or jaunt.
- Grammar: trip is listed as adj, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: misstep, stumble, activate, actuate.
- Useful contrasts: connect, connection, continuation.
- Usage evidence: This will be a good souvenir of my trip around the United States.
How to use "trip"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "trip" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "trip" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "trip" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "trip" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "trip" is acting as adj, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "misstep" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "trip", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A journey; an excursion or jaunt.
"We made a trip to the beach."
- 2 A herd or flock of sheep, goats, etc. Scotland, UK, dialectal, obsolete
- 3 an unintentional but embarrassing blunder wordnet
- 4 A stumble or misstep.
"He was injured due to a trip down the stairs."
- 5 A troop of men; a host. obsolete
Show 16 more definitions
- 6 a light or nimble tread wordnet
- 7 An error; a failure; a mistake. archaic, figuratively
"Imperfect words, with childish trips."
- 8 A flock of wigeons.
- 9 a journey for some purpose (usually including the return) wordnet
- 10 A period of time in which one experiences drug-induced reverie or hallucinations. colloquial
"He had a strange trip after taking LSD."
- 11 a catch mechanism that acts as a switch wordnet
- 12 Intense involvement in or enjoyment of a condition. broadly
"ego trip"
- 13 an exciting or stimulating experience wordnet
- 14 A faux pas, a social error.
- 15 an accidental misstep threatening (or causing) a fall wordnet
- 16 A mechanical cutout device.
- 17 a hallucinatory experience induced by drugs wordnet
- 18 A trip-switch or cut-out.
"It's dark because the trip operated."
- 19 A quick, light step; a lively movement of the feet; a skip.
"His heart bounded as he sometimes could distinctly hear the trip of a light female step glide to or from the door."
- 20 The act of tripping someone, or causing them to lose their footing.
"It is the sudden trip in wrestling that fetches a man to the ground."
- 21 A single tack while beating (sailing to windward).
Verb
- 1 To fall over or stumble over an object as a result of striking it with one's foot intransitive
"Be careful not to trip on those tree roots. You tripped over the cat and fell downstairs just last week."
- 2 get high, stoned, or drugged wordnet
- 3 To cause (a person or animal) to fall or stumble by knocking their feet from under them. sometimes, transitive
"A pedestrian was able to trip the burglar as he was running away."
- 4 put in motion or move to act wordnet
- 5 To be guilty of a misstep or mistake; to commit an offence against morality, propriety, etc intransitive
"And the Pharasay / Then durst nothynge say, / But let the matter slyp, / And made truth to tryp;"
Show 14 more definitions
- 6 make a trip for pleasure wordnet
- 7 To detect in a misstep; to catch; to convict. obsolete, transitive
"These her women can trip me if I err."
- 8 miss a step and fall or nearly fall wordnet
- 9 To activate or set in motion, as in the activation of a trap, explosive, or switch. transitive
"When we get into the factory, trip the lights."
- 10 cause to stumble wordnet
- 11 To be activated, as by a signal or an event intransitive
"The alarm system tripped, throwing everyone into a panic."
- 12 Of an electrical circuit, to trip out (through overload, a short circuit).
"From the evidence of witnesses and of the recorded passing times, including the time at which the circuit breakers were tripped when the wires were brought down, the train was travelling at a speed of not less than 70 m.p.h."
- 13 To experience a state of reverie or to hallucinate, due to consuming psychoactive drugs. intransitive
"After taking the LSD, I started tripping about fairies and colors."
- 14 To journey, to make a trip. intransitive
"Last summer, we tripped to the coast."
- 15 To move with light, quick steps; to walk or move lightly; to skip. dated, intransitive
"Come, and trip it, as ye go, / On the light fantastic toe."
- 16 To raise (an anchor) from the bottom, by its cable or buoy rope, so that it hangs free.
- 17 To pull (a yard) into a perpendicular position for lowering it.
- 18 To become unreasonably upset, especially over something unimportant; to cause a scene or a disruption. slang
"If she ain't with it, I find another little chick / I'm quick to switch, even when I was six / I had a backup bitch, when my bitch would trip / I'd go play with my other girlfriend and get me a kiss / And at the age of thirty-six I'm to the same old tricks"
- 19 To become unreasonably upset, especially over something unimportant; to cause a scene or a disruption.; To act foolishly or irrationally. slang
Adjective
- 1 Of or relating to trips (three of a kind). not-comparable, slang
Antonyms
Example
"This will be a good souvenir of my trip around the United States."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "trip"?
Common synonyms include: misstep, stumble, activate, actuate, airlift, airy nothing.
How do you use "trip" in a sentence?
This will be a good souvenir of my trip around the United States.
How do you pronounce "trip"?
Pronounced /tɹɪp/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English trippen (“tread or step lightly and nimbly, skip, dance”), perhaps from Old French triper (“to hop or dance around, strike with the feet”), from a Frankish source; or alternatively from Middle Dutch trippen (“to skip, trip, hop, stamp, trample”) (> Modern Dutch trippelen (“to toddle, patter, trip”)). Akin to Middle Low German trippen ( > Danish trippe (“to trip”), Swedish trippa (“to mince, trip”)), West Frisian tripje (“to toddle, trip”), German trippeln (“to scurry”), Old English treppan (“to trample, tread”). Related also to trap, tramp.
Etymology 2
From Middle English tryppe, from Old French trippe. Possibly related to troop.