1 A2 neutral
To catch your foot on an obstacle and nearly or actually fall.
"She tripped over the cat in the dark hallway and dropped all her books."
inseparable
trip over
A2 neutral inseparable transitive/intransitive
To catch your foot on an object and lose your balance, nearly or actually falling.
In plain English
To catch your foot on something and almost fall down.
What does "trip over" mean?
2 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
2 B1 idiomatic neutral
To stumble or struggle when speaking, making errors or hesitating.
"The presenter kept tripping over the technical terminology in the report."
inseparable
Literal vs figurative
Words literally mean
To catch your foot on something, causing you to stumble or fall.
Actually means
To catch your foot on something and almost fall down.
Usage tip
Very common in everyday speech. Also used figuratively to mean stumbling over words (tripping over one's words) or encountering an unexpected difficulty. The figurative use is common in speech and writing.
Words that pair with "trip over"
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
step root wire curb stone words
How to conjugate "trip over"
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
Base
trip over
I/you/we/they
3rd person
trips over
he/she/it
Past simple
triped over
yesterday
Past participle
triped over
have + pp
-ing form
triping over
continuous
Hear "trip over" in the wild
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