I. ˈtrip noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English
dialect England : a small flock (as of birds or mammals)
II. verb
( tripped also tript ; tripped also tript ; tripping ; trips )
Etymology: Middle English trippen, from Middle French triper, treper to dance, hop, trample, of Germanic origin; akin to Low German trippen, trippeln to stamp, trample, Middle Dutch trepelen, trappelen to stamp, trample, Old English treppan to tread — more at trap
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to dance, skip, or caper with light quick steps
nymphs and shepherds … trip no more in twilight ranks — John Milton
b. : to move with light quick steps : walk or move lightly : move the feet nimbly
she … tripped lightly with him into the church — T.L.Peacock
2. : to catch the foot against something so as to stagger, hop, or fall : stumble over something (as an obstacle in one's path) : make a false step
the child … got up only to trip on her skirt and tumble headlong again — O.E.Rölvaag
tripped over his own feet
3. : to fall into an error : make a mistake or false step : offend against morality, propriety, or accuracy : err , slip
his careful reasoning which never trips — H.O.Taylor
nor do we ever find him tripping even in a matter of detail — Virginia Woolf
4. : to stumble in articulation : falter in speaking
drinking … till his tongue trips — John Locke
he shall stammer, cluck and trip — Robert Graves
5. : to make a journey or excursion
tripped frequently to France to … visit troops — S.L.A.Marshall
6. : to run past the pallet of the escapement without previously locking — used of a tooth of the escape wheel of a watch
7. : to become strained or twisted out of the perpendicular — used of the floor of a ship between the keel and keelson
8.
a. : to actuate a mechanism by the operation of some device
b. : to become operative or actuated as the result of the operation of some mechanical device
transitive verb
1.
a. : to cause to stumble or lose one's footing (as by suddenly checking the motion of a foot or leg) : cause to take a false step : throw off balance
someone must have tripped him
— often used with up
b. : to cause to fail or be checked by putting an obstacle in the way : halt , obstruct
2. : to detect in a misstep, error, or inconsistency : catch in a fault or blunder — usually used with up
any military man familiar with firearms could trip you up — Kenneth Roberts
wrongdoing inevitably trips up itself — Irish Digest
questions designed to trip him up
3.
a. archaic : to perform (as a dance) lightly or nimbly
come and trip it as you go, on the light fantastic toe — John Milton
the young folks tripped it away on the grass — Harriet Martineau
b. : to dance upon (a surface) with a light and nimble step
4. : to raise (an anchor) from the bottom by its cable or buoy rope so that it hangs 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 sending down
6. : to release, let fall, set free, or otherwise operate (as a weight, compressed spring, switch, or other mechanism) especially by removing a catch or detent : actuate (as a connecting, disconnecting, or controlling mechanism) by some device
7. : to separate the petals of (a legume flower) in search of nectar causing vigorous springing apart of style and stamens and discharge of pollen that dusts over an insect (as a bee) and resulting in cross-pollination
8. : wedge 5
9. : to raise (the bottom) even with the top of a scenery drop by an auxiliary set of lines in order to fold the drop in half and usually out of audience view
•
- trip the light fantastic
III. noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English, from trippen to trip
1. : a stroke, catch, or other movement by which one (as a wrestler) causes his antagonist to lose footing : the action of tripping someone
2.
a. : a relatively short run of a vehicle usually between two points or to a point and return
extra trips were scheduled by bus, railroad, and plane companies in anticipation of heavy holiday traffic
b. : voyage , journey
left China for a four-year … trip abroad — Arthur Mathers
my trip around the world — Wendell Willkie
a trip to the moon
missile on a trip down the Atlantic range
especially : one that is short or is undertaken for some usually specified purpose
a trip to the dentist
a day trip
vacation trips
c. : a single tour of travel in the course of a business operation
a delivery trip
a postal carrier's two trips a day
d. : the distance involved in a trip
the only other village was one day's mule trip farther into the interior — C.B.Hitchcock
e. : something held to resemble physical passage from one place to another
their marriage and their trip through life — J.P.Marquand
the idea started on a long trip around … conference tables — Laura Fermi
3. : an error, failure, mistake, blunder, or similar misstep
a trip in one point would have spoiled all — John Berridge
4. : a light lively movement of the feet : a quick light step
the trip of children's feet
5. : a false step caused by stumbling over something or otherwise losing one's balance : stumble
6. : a single board in beating to windward : the distance covered by a sailing ship on a single tack
7. : the action in coursing by a dog of throwing the hare off its feet or of seizing it but losing hold in an unsuccessful effort to kill
8. : the catch of fish made or brought in on a single voyage to a fishing ground (as by a commercial fishing vessel)
9.
a. : the action of tripping mechanically (as a valve held open against a spring)
b.
(1) : a usually automatic device for tripping a mechanism (as a catch or detent)
(2) : tup 2
10. : a number of cars coupled together and hauled as a train in mining operations
IV. abbreviation
triple; triplicate
V. noun
1. : an intense visionary experience undergone by a person who has taken a psychedelic drug (as LSD) ; broadly : an exciting experience
orgasm … is the ultimate trip — D.R.Reuben
2. : pursuit of an absorbing or obsessive interest : kick
he's on a nostalgia trip
3. : scene herein , life-style
the whole superstar trip — Joe Eszterhas
VI. intransitive verb
( tripped ; tripped ; tripping ; trips -s )
Etymology: trip , noun (herein)
: to get high on a drug : turn on herein — often used with out
• trip·per ˈtripə(r) noun