trip

Less common meanings

4. 4
   drug experiencenouncolloquialcountable

   A period of altered perception, dreamlike states, or hallucinations caused by taking a psychoactive drug.

   The mushrooms gave him an intense trip that night.

   Her first trip left her overwhelmed by the swirling colors.

   UsageUsually take a trip or have a trip. A bad trip is a frightening one.

   Similarhigh

   Note

   In 1967 a Time book on the hippies still set "trip" off in inverted commas, as a word that needed introducing. Two years later Merle Haggard could use the word, tied to LSD, in a song without them. The same experience as an action belongs to the verb for hallucinating.

5. 5
   be highverbintransitive

   To experience dreamlike states or hallucinations after taking psychoactive drugs.

   Festival-goers sometimes trip until sunrise.

   She tripped hard and saw the walls breathing.

   UsageUse on to name the drug: they were tripping on LSD.

   Similarhallucinate

   Note

   Black Sabbath's "Fairies Wear Boots" (1970) has the doctor blame the singer's troubles on smoking and tripping, as if he did nothing else. The experience as a noun is the drug trip.

6. 6
   set offverbtransitive

   To activate or set off something, such as a trap, switch, or explosive.

   A single misstep can trip the hidden wire.

   The intruder tripped the silent alarm without realizing it.

   UsageCommon objects: trip an alarm, trip a wire, trip a breaker.

   Similartrigger, activate, spring

   Note

   Setting something off, and not always switching it off. "Trip the lights" means turn them on, while tripping an alarm or a hidden wire starts something running. The same things can also be the subject: we trip the alarm, or the alarm trips by itself, which is the intransitive use.

7. 7
   verbintransitive

   Of a switch, circuit breaker, sensor, or similar mechanism, to be activated automatically, especially so as to cut off power because of an overload or fault.

   Old circuits trip easily during a power surge.

   The main breaker tripped, plunging the house into darkness.

   Note

   Railway writing shows the range. In 1961 Trains Illustrated estimated a train's speed using the time when "the circuit breakers were tripped" as the wires came down. In 2023, "the 25kV had repeatedly tripped," with the voltage standing for the whole overhead supply. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • The quotation about the 25kV repeatedly tripping was published in 2023. en.wiktionary.org
   • The voltage in the 2023 quotation refers to the overhead electrical supply. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk
8. 8
   verbslangintransitive

   To behave irrationally or overreact, especially by getting unreasonably upset about something trivial.

   Stop tripping over a text he didn't answer right away.

   Folks will trip if the schedule changes at the last minute.

   UsageMostly heard as tripping: stop tripping, you're tripping. The cause follows over: tripping over a text.

   Similaroverreact, flip

   Note

   Slang from African-American Vernacular English, heard mostly as tripping: you're tripping, stop tripping. It accuses rather than describes, since calling a reaction tripping says it is out of proportion to its cause. Out of context it can be mistaken for the drug verb, but no drugs are involved.

9. 9
   thrillnouncountable

   A state of intense involvement in or enjoyment of a particular condition or activity.

   Controlling the schedule became an ego trip for the new manager.

   The whole festival was a nostalgic trip for longtime fans.

   UsageMostly in compounds written as two words: ego trip, power trip, nostalgia trip.

10. 10
    nouncountable

    A device that automatically stops a machine or breaks an electrical circuit, for example when there is an overload or fault; a cut-out.

    The mill's safety trip halted the rollers instantly.

    Engineers installed a new trip on the conveyor line.

    Similarcut-out, breaker

    Note

    An engineer's word for the safety catch that stops a machine on its own. It typically works by releasing a latch or spring once a preset limit is reached, such as overspeed, overload or a part out of place. Electrical versions do the same job by breaking a circuit. What happens to it when it works is the verb for setting something off. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 7 facts

    • A mechanical safety trip can automatically stop machinery when a preset speed limit is exceeded. aig.com
    • Trip mechanisms commonly release a latch, allowing spring action to operate the protective mechanism. en.wikipedia.org
    • Overspeed is a condition that can activate a mechanical trip. aig.com
    • Overload can activate an electrical trip, interrupting the circuit. ltrc.la.gov
    • A safety device can respond to a component being outside its required position. pilz.com
    • Electrical trips protect equipment by interrupting the circuit. ltrc.la.gov
    • The corresponding verb means to activate something, or to become activated. en.wiktionary.org
11. 11
    skip alongverbdatedintransitive

    To move with light, quick steps; to walk or skip along lightly.

    The dancers trip across the stage in perfect time with the music.

    Come, and trip it, as ye go, / On the light fantastic toe.

    a. 1645, John Milton, “L’Allegro”

    UsageUsually followed by a direction: trip across the stage, trip down the lane.

    Similarskip, dance, prance, bound, hop

    Note

    Milton gave this verb its most durable line in L'Allegro: "Come, and trip it, as ye go, / On the light fantastic toe." That line is behind the phrase trip the light fantastic, meaning to dance. Dryden and Washington Irving keep the verb literal; Irving's Mary "came tripping forth to meet us." Source

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • Milton wrote the quoted lines in L'Allegro; the quotation uses modernized spelling. en.wikisource.org
    • The phrase trip the light fantastic derives from Milton's lines and means to dance. en.wikipedia.org
    • Dryden uses trip to describe light physical movement. rpo.library.utoronto.ca
    • Irving's narrator describes Mary coming lightly forward using the quoted words. gutenberg.org
12. 12
    verbobsoletetransitive

    To catch someone in a misstep or error; to detect and convict of wrongdoing.

    These her women can trip me if I err.

    1611, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”

    Note

    Nobody uses it now, but Shakespeare's Cymbeline (1611) shows it plainly: "These her women can trip me if I err." The women are not knocking anyone over. They are watching for a false step and ready to expose it. A modern reader will hear catch out, and the transitive pattern is the same: the person caught is the object. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • William Shakespeare wrote Cymbeline. gutenberg.org
    • The quotation occurs in Cymbeline; its speaker is Cornelius, in Act 5, scene 5. folger.edu
    • Trip here means detecting an error in Cornelius's report; me is its object. folger.edu
13. 13
    nounobsoleteScotlandUK

    A herd or flock of sheep, goats, and similar grazing animals.

    Note

    A separate word from the trip of journeys and stumbles. It comes from Middle English tryppe, from Old French trippe, and is possibly related to troop. It lived in Scottish and other British dialect for a flock of sheep or goats, and it survives today mainly as a collective noun: news writers still report a trip of goats.

14. 14
    nounobsolete

    A troop of men; a host or assembled body of fighters.

    Note

    Here the possible kinship with troop is easiest to hear: a trip of men was a body of them, gathered or on the march. The word is obsolete, and in modern writing it would be misread as a journey. Troop, company or host carry the meaning now, and the word's origin is told under the old flock word. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

    • Trip historically meant a troop or body of men. en.wiktionary.org
    • The military sense is obsolete. en.wiktionary.org
    • The military and flock senses share the etymology possibly related to troop. en.wiktionary.org
    • The military sense belongs to the same historical word as the flock sense discussed in s27. en.wiktionary.org
15. 15
    verbdated

    To travel; to go on a journey.
16. 16
    noundated

    A mistake or slip, especially an embarrassing social blunder or a lapse in conduct, speech, or judgment.
17. 17
    verbarchaic

    To be guilty of a misstep or wrongdoing; to commit an offense against morality or propriety.

    [T]ill his Tongue trips

    1689, [John Locke], “Remedies of the Imperfection and Abuse of Words”
18. 18
    adjectiveslang

    Describing a poker hand or holding made up of three cards of the same rank.
19. 19
    nounrare

    A quick, light step or lively movement of the feet; a small, springy skip.

    His heart bounded as he sometimes could distinctly hear the trip of a light female step glide to or from the door.

    1814, [Walter Scott], Waverley
20. 20
    verb

    To heave an anchor clear of the bottom, using the cable or the buoy line, until it hangs freely.
21. 21
    nounrare

    A single tack made while beating to windward; one leg of a zigzag course sailed against the wind.
22. 22
    verb

    To pull a ship's yard into a perpendicular position so that it can be lowered.
23. 23
    nounrare

    A flock of wigeons, a kind of wild dabbling duck.