Trip \Trip\, n. i. [imp. & p. p. Tripped; p. pr. & vb. n. Tripping.]

[OE. trippen; akin to D. trippen, Dan. trippe, and E. tramp. See Tramp.]

1. To move with light, quick steps; to walk or move lightly; to skip; to move the feet nimbly; -- sometimes followed by it. See It, 5.

This horse anon began to trip and dance. --Chaucer.

Come, and trip it, as you go, On the light fantastic toe. --Milton.

She bounded by, and tripped so light They had not time to take a steady sight. --Dryden.

2. To make a brief journey or pleasure excursion; as, to trip to Europe.

3. To take a quick step, as when in danger of losing one's balance; hence, to make a false; to catch the foot; to lose footing; to stumble.

4. Fig.: To be guilty of a misstep; to commit an offense against morality, propriety, or rule; to err; to mistake; to fail. ``Till his tongue trip.'' --Locke.

A blind will thereupon comes to be led by a blind understanding; there is no remedy, but it must trip and stumble. --South.

Virgil is so exact in every word that none can be changed but for a worse; he pretends sometimes to trip, but it is to make you think him in danger when most secure. --Dryden.

What? dost thou verily trip upon a word? --R. Browning.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)