Trip

Part of speech: noun, verb

Pronunciation: /tɹɪp/

Definitions

1. To lose balance and stumble while moving ; a journey from one place to another ; to cause a mechanism to operate or stop by triggering a control
2. To catch the foot on something and momentarily fall ; an outing or travel experience ; to initiate the automatic functioning of a device
3. To catch or cause to catch on something and almost fall ; a planned or casual travel event ; to set off a switch or system to start or stop running

Etymology: The verb "trip" and the noun "trip" come from two unrelated sources that happened to land on the same spelling. The verb descends from Middle English "trippen," meaning to tread or step lightly and nimbly, skip, or dance. Its likely ancestor is Old French "triper," to hop or dance about, which probably came from a Frankish word, and Middle Dutch "trippen," to skip or hop, is a close relative. Across the Germanic languages, similar forms appear with the sense of toddling, tramping, or trampling, and Old English "treppan" meant to trample or tread. The sense of stumbling over something grew out of that light, quick stepping. The noun for a journey is a different word entirely. It comes from Middle English "tryppe," borrowed from Old French "trippe," meaning a herd. Its link to a herd of animals is a clue to the original idea: a flock or group moving together, and eventually a single outing or voyage. The connection to the word for a troop is possible but uncertain.

Synonyms: journey, excursion, voyage

Antonyms: stay, remain