tripped; tripping
1
: to catch the foot against something so as to stumble
2
: to make a mistake or false step (as in morality or accuracy)
3
a
: to dance, skip, or caper with light quick steps
b
: to walk with light quick steps
4
: to stumble in articulation when speaking
5
: to make a journey
6
a
: to actuate a mechanism
b
: to become operative
7
a
: to get high on a psychedelic drug (such as LSD) : turn on
—often used with out
b
slang
: freak sense 3b
1
a
: to cause to stumble
—often used with up
b
: to cause to fail : obstruct
—often used with up
2
: to detect in a misstep, fault, or blunder
3
: to release or operate (a mechanism) especially by releasing a catch or detent
trip the fire alarm
4
: to raise (an anchor) from the bottom so as to hang free
5
a
: to pull (a yard) into a perpendicular position for lowering
b
: to hoist (a topmast) far enough to enable the fid to be withdrawn preparatory to housing or lowering
6
archaic
: to perform (a dance) lightly or nimbly
2
a
: an intense visionary experience undergone by a person who has taken a psychedelic drug (such as LSD)
b
: an exciting or unusual experience
the party was a trip
3
: absorption in or obsession with an interest, attitude, or state of mind
a guilt trip
on a nostalgia trip
4
: a faltering step caused by stumbling
5
: a stroke or catch by which a wrestler is made to lose footing
7
: a quick light step
8
a
: the action of tripping mechanically
b
: a device for tripping a mechanism (such as a catch or detent)
Synonyms
Examples of trip in a Sentence
Verb
He deliberately tried to trip me.
The dancers tripped off the stage.
Noun
They got back from their trip yesterday.
a trip around the world
He was on an acid trip.
an ankle injury caused by a trip
Recent Examples on the Web
Cincinnati Enquirer, The Enquirer, 29 Mar. 2024
How does something as terrestrially mundane as budgeting continually trip them up?
—Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 29 Mar. 2024
As Kelly explains, vestibular rehab exercises generally fall into three buckets:
Balance training: This improves your steadiness in situations that are literally tripping you up—like walking on uneven ground or in the dark.
—Amy Norton, SELF, 29 Mar. 2024
The biggest companies in Silicon Valley are virtually tripping over each other to buy Nvidia’s most coveted chips.
—Michael Cannivet, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
Kids need to trip over people and ideas, at the risk of scraping up their psyches, in order to learn how to move through the world and how to connect meaningfully with the people in it.
—Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 28 Mar. 2024
Leach has tripped the breaker by plugging in a space heater, so students are often forced to bundle up for instruction.
—Becca Savransky, Idaho Statesman, 27 Mar. 2024
This one has a streamlined design with a USB-C plug that connects right to the base of iPhone 15 (or other compatible device) — so there are no dangling cables to trip over or snag.
—Alesandra Dubin, Travel + Leisure, 13 Mar. 2024
Liza Koshy Continues the Oscars Accidental Tumble Trend 10 hr 49 min ago
Players actress Liza Koshy was a victim of her tall shoes on Sunday night, joining an illustrious list of celebs who've tripped on the red carpet.
—Lindsay Kimble, Peoplemag, 11 Mar. 2024
Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2024
Carrie, who is afraid of plane travel, plans a cross-country train trip with the final destination being a luxury hotel in San Francisco.
—Cady Lang, TIME, 5 Apr. 2024
No word on when the busy Waititi will make that trip to a galaxy far, far away.
—Brent Lang, Variety, 5 Apr. 2024
Jelly Roll and Bunnie XO aren’t having the smoothest trip to Austin, Texas, ahead of this year’s Country Music Television Awards.
—Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 5 Apr. 2024
Bianco is in his 24th season at Ole Miss and has a 897-526-1 record with 18 NCAA Tournament appearances and two trips to the College World Series, including the 2022 national championship.
—Bob Holt, arkansasonline.com, 4 Apr. 2024
New travel must begin no more than one year from the original trip date.
—USA TODAY, 4 Apr. 2024
For Ali, a 34-year-old elephant who used to reside at Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch, a trip to the dentist looks a bit different.
—Charlotte Phillipp, Peoplemag, 4 Apr. 2024
The environmental theme to Cook’s trip — which included opening an expansive new store in Shanghai on Thursday — may have been chosen to avoid falling afoul of geopolitical sensitivities.
—Bloomberg, Fortune, 24 Mar. 2024
Verb
Don't trip over wobbly boards and protruding nails this summer.
—Cincinnati Enquirer, The Enquirer, 29 Mar. 2024
How does something as terrestrially mundane as budgeting continually trip them up?
—Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 29 Mar. 2024
As Kelly explains, vestibular rehab exercises generally fall into three buckets:
Balance training: This improves your steadiness in situations that are literally tripping you up—like walking on uneven ground or in the dark.
—Amy Norton, SELF, 29 Mar. 2024
The biggest companies in Silicon Valley are virtually tripping over each other to buy Nvidia’s most coveted chips.
—Michael Cannivet, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
Kids need to trip over people and ideas, at the risk of scraping up their psyches, in order to learn how to move through the world and how to connect meaningfully with the people in it.
—Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 28 Mar. 2024
Leach has tripped the breaker by plugging in a space heater, so students are often forced to bundle up for instruction.
—Becca Savransky, Idaho Statesman, 27 Mar. 2024
This one has a streamlined design with a USB-C plug that connects right to the base of iPhone 15 (or other compatible device) — so there are no dangling cables to trip over or snag.
—Alesandra Dubin, Travel + Leisure, 13 Mar. 2024
Liza Koshy Continues the Oscars Accidental Tumble Trend 10 hr 49 min ago
Players actress Liza Koshy was a victim of her tall shoes on Sunday night, joining an illustrious list of celebs who've tripped on the red carpet.
—Lindsay Kimble, Peoplemag, 11 Mar. 2024
Noun
The Razorbacks went to the Elite Eight in just his second season (2021), then followed with another Elite Eight trip in 2022 and a Sweet 16 berth in 2023 before skidding to a 16-17 mark and tying for 11th in the SEC standings in 2024.
—Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2024
Carrie, who is afraid of plane travel, plans a cross-country train trip with the final destination being a luxury hotel in San Francisco.
—Cady Lang, TIME, 5 Apr. 2024
No word on when the busy Waititi will make that trip to a galaxy far, far away.
—Brent Lang, Variety, 5 Apr. 2024
Jelly Roll and Bunnie XO aren’t having the smoothest trip to Austin, Texas, ahead of this year’s Country Music Television Awards.
—Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 5 Apr. 2024
Bianco is in his 24th season at Ole Miss and has a 897-526-1 record with 18 NCAA Tournament appearances and two trips to the College World Series, including the 2022 national championship.
—Bob Holt, arkansasonline.com, 4 Apr. 2024
New travel must begin no more than one year from the original trip date.
—USA TODAY, 4 Apr. 2024
For Ali, a 34-year-old elephant who used to reside at Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch, a trip to the dentist looks a bit different.
—Charlotte Phillipp, Peoplemag, 4 Apr. 2024
The environmental theme to Cook’s trip — which included opening an expansive new store in Shanghai on Thursday — may have been chosen to avoid falling afoul of geopolitical sensitivities.
—Bloomberg, Fortune, 24 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'trip.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near trip
Cite this Entry
“Trip.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trip. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
trip
1 of 2 noun1
: an act of causing another to stumble or fall
2
a
: a traveling from one place to another : journey
a trip to Europe
b
: a brief errand or journey with a purpose that often takes place on a regular basis
a trip to the dentist
3
4
a
: a quick light step
b
: a faltering step : stumble
5
a
: the action of releasing something mechanically
b
: a device (as a catch) for releasing a mechanism
trip
2 of 2 verb
tripped; tripping
1
: to move (as in dancing or walking) with light quick steps
2
a
: to catch one's foot against something so as to stumble
don't trip over the rock
b
: to cause to stumble
someone must have tripped him
3
a
: to make or cause to make a mistake
b
: to catch making a false statement, error, or blunder
questions designed to trip her up
4
: to release or start a device usually by moving a catch
tripped the fire alarm
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