to trip over
49
1.9
- phrasal verb
- /trɪp ˈoʊvər/
:
tropezar con
- Watch your step; it's easy to trip over those loose cables.
- trip over one's feet
- trip over a step
- trip over shoelaces
You know, there's even a scene in which Pinocchio trips over a pile of feces covered in flies.
- You know, there's even a scene in which Pinocchio trips over a pile of feces covered in flies.
- They're running and a dog, a yappy dog runs out onto the track and the horse trips over the dog and the guy dies.
- So what I'm going to do next week is cut a groove into the concrete and bury that cable there so I don't trip over it.
- How come if, you know, I trip over this table and I I hurt my leg and I break my bone, I I can get treatment regardless of my ability to pay, right.
- Yeah, or trip over and break your nose and teeth.
- And you know that that's always the same thing that that people trip over when they trip.
Examples
-
Did you trip over something?
-
Honey, move your backpack before somebody trips over it.
-
Someone could trip over it.
-
Be careful not to trip over your bags.
-
"Regan went back out to the garage, careful not to trip over anything this time.
Fiction book (1993) -
Karen turns quickly away from him and trips over a sprinkler head.
Fiction book (1991) -
She tripped over my foot, and nearly fell down a flight of stairs.
-
The kids scatter, tripping over one another as they tear off down the block.
Fiction book (1995) -
I left the classroom with a raging headache and almost tripped over a student in the hall.
Fiction book (1995) -
Don't do anything stupid like tripping over your shoelaces.
Synonyms
219
2.2
To cause someone to stumble or lose balance
129
1.6
To trip or lose balance while walking and almost fall
67
1.0
To lose your balance or stop being steady and end up on the ground
1
3.5
To trip and bump into something by accident
Antonyms
How Severe
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to lose one's balance because one's foot strikes or catches on something' is directly derivable from 'trip' (to stumble) combined with 'over' (indicating movement across or contact with an obstacle), following standard English phrasal-verb composition. This is a common, cross-linguistic construction (e.g., Spanish 'tropezar con', French 'trébucher sur'), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will very likely infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The phrasal verb trip over comes from a simple image: your foot trips on something and you fall over. So it means 'to lose your balance because your foot hits or catches on something'.