TRIP (tripped, tripping)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does trip mean? 

• TRIP (noun)
  The noun TRIP has 7 senses:

1. a journey for some purpose (usually including the return)

2. a hallucinatory experience induced by drugs

3. an accidental misstep threatening (or causing) a fall

4. an exciting or stimulating experience

5. a catch mechanism that acts as a switch

6. a light or nimble tread

7. an unintentional but embarrassing blunder

  Familiarity information: TRIP used as a noun is common.

• TRIP (verb)
  The verb TRIP has 5 senses:

1. miss a step and fall or nearly fall

2. cause to stumble

3. make a trip for pleasure

4. put in motion or move to act

5. get high, stoned, or drugged

  Familiarity information: TRIP used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TRIP (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A journey for some purpose (usually including the return)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

he took a trip to the shopping center

Hypernyms ("trip" is a kind of...):

journey; journeying (the act of traveling from one place to another)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "trip"):

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)

Derivation:

trip (make a trip for pleasure)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A hallucinatory experience induced by drugs

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Context example:

an acid trip

Hypernyms ("trip" is a kind of...):

hallucination (illusory perception; a common symptom of severe mental disorder)

Derivation:

trip (get high, stoned, or drugged)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An accidental misstep threatening (or causing) a fall

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

slip; trip

Context example:

the jolt caused many slips and a few spills

Hypernyms ("trip" is a kind of...):

misadventure; mischance; mishap (an instance of misfortune)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "trip"):

fall; spill; tumble (a sudden drop from an upright position)

Derivation:

trip (miss a step and fall or nearly fall)

trip (cause to stumble)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An exciting or stimulating experience

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

head trip; trip

Hypernyms ("trip" is a kind of...):

experience (an event as apprehended)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A catch mechanism that acts as a switch

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

trip; tripper

Context example:

the pressure activates the tripper and releases the water

Hypernyms ("trip" is a kind of...):

catch; stop (a restraint that checks the motion of something)

Derivation:

trip (put in motion or move to act)

Sense 6

Meaning:

A light or nimble tread

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

he heard the trip of women's feet overhead

Hypernyms ("trip" is a kind of...):

step (the act of changing location by raising the foot and setting it down)

Sense 7

Meaning:

An unintentional but embarrassing blunder

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

misstep; stumble; trip; trip-up

Context example:

confusion caused his unfortunate misstep

Hypernyms ("trip" is a kind of...):

bloomer; blooper; blunder; boner; boo-boo; botch; bungle; flub; foul-up; fuckup; pratfall (an embarrassing mistake)

• TRIP (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Miss a step and fall or nearly fall

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

stumble; trip

Context example:

She stumbled over the tree root

Hypernyms (to "trip" is one way to...):

move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)

"Trip" entails doing...:

walk (use one's feet to advance; advance by steps)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "trip"):

founder (stumble and nearly fall)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

trip (an accidental misstep threatening (or causing) a fall)

tripper (a walker or runner who trips and almost falls)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cause to stumble

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

trip; trip up

Context example:

The questions on the test tripped him up

Cause:

stumble; trip (miss a step and fall or nearly fall)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

trip (an accidental misstep threatening (or causing) a fall)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Make a trip for pleasure

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

jaunt; travel; trip

Cause:

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "trip"):

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)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s somebody PP

Derivation:

trip (a journey for some purpose (usually including the return))

tripper (a tourist who is visiting sights of interest)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Put in motion or move to act

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

activate; actuate; set off; spark; spark off; touch off; trigger; trigger off; trip

Context example:

actuate the circuits

Hypernyms (to "trip" is one way to...):

initiate; pioneer (take the lead or initiative in; participate in the development of)

Cause:

come about; fall out; go on; hap; happen; occur; pass; pass off; take place (come to pass)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

trip; tripper (a catch mechanism that acts as a switch)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Get high, stoned, or drugged

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Synonyms:

get off; trip; trip out; turn on

Context example:

He trips every weekend

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s on something

Derivation:

trip (a hallucinatory experience induced by drugs)

 Context examples 

Travel will be possible this month, and if you go for romantic reasons rather than for business, you will have a dream of a trip.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

An' I wisht I'd never started on this trip, Henry.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Let your flowers hang, don't be so careful of them, and be sure you don't trip, returned Sallie, trying not to care that Meg was prettier than herself.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

“As you said we could make a little trip of it, and go over together, if it was done, Minnie and me—and you.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

“Watson, your country-trip has been a distinct success. I have had a charming morning.”

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He tripped and was pulled off his feet.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

The captain, a wise man, after many endeavours to catch me tripping in some part of my story, at last began to have a better opinion of my veracity.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

There he sits as easy and happy as if he was at home, in the chair by his fireside; he trips against no stones, saves shoe-leather, and gets on he hardly knows how.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Ere long, Adele's little foot was heard tripping across the hall.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

This fifth trip was quite different from any of the others.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)