Excursion Meaning
/ɪkˈskɜː.ʃən/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA brief recreational trip; a journey out of the usual way.
nounA field trip.
Sentence Examples
We went to Lake Towada on a school excursion.
He's the one who made an excursion there.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The school planned a short ____ to the science museum on Friday.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
We took an ____ to the countryside to enjoy the fresh air and the beautiful scenery.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from Latin excursiō (“a running out, an inroad, invasion, a setting out, beginning of a speech”), from excurrere (“to run out”), from ex (“out”) + currere (“to run”). By surface analysis, excurse + -ion. Compare excursus.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Mother[…]considered that the exclusiveness of Peter's circle was due not to its distinction, but to the fact that it was an inner Babylon of prodigality and whoredom, from which every Kensingtonian held aloof, except on the conventional tip-and-run excursions in pursuit of shopping, tea and theatres."
— 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 2, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
"Now all his ponderings, however excursive, wheeled round Isabel as their center; and back to her they came again from every excursion; and again derived some new, small germs for wonderment."
— 1852, Herman Melville, Pierre; or The Ambiguities:
"After breakfast, that next morning in Chamonix, we went out in the yard and watched the gangs of excursioning tourists arriving and departing with their mules and guides and porters […]"
— 1880, Mark Twain, chapter 49, in A Tramp Abroad:
"Victoria cows preferred to walk on the plank sidewalks in winter rather than dirty their hooves in the mud by the roadside. They liked to tune their chews to the tap, tap, tap of their feet on the planks. Ladies challenged the right of way by opening and shutting their umbrellas in the cows' faces and shooing, but the cows only chewed harder and stood still. It was the woman-lady, not the lady-cow who had to take to the mud and get scratched by the wild rose bushes that grew between sidewalk and fence while she excursioned round the cow."
— 1942, Emily Carr, “Ways of Getting Round”, in The Book of Small, Toronto, Ont.: Oxford University Press, →OCLC:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The school planned a short ____ to the science museum on Friday.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
We took an ____ to the countryside to enjoy the fresh air and the beautiful scenery.