expedition

Everyday

1. An expedition is a long, organised journey to a far place, especially to explore, study or climb. tree →
2. The expedition is also the group of people making the journey. tree →
3. (informal, humorous) A short trip with a purpose, like a shopping expedition. tree →
4. A military expedition is an organised journey by an army to attack or conquer a place. tree →

In the lessons

In history and geography lessons explorers make expeditions to the poles, jungles and mountains; in science, scientists go on expeditions to study animals. In everyday talk it can be a joke about an ordinary trip. Phrases: go on an expedition, a scientific expedition, an expedition to the South Pole, shopping expedition.

Examples

• The explorers set off on an expedition to the South Pole. tree →
• The expedition took six months and twenty men. tree →
• Scientists went on an expedition to study rainforest frogs. tree →
• Our class went on a fossil-hunting expedition to the beach. tree →
• Mum called the trip to the supermarket «a shopping expedition». tree →
• The mountain-climbing expedition reached the top at dawn. tree →
• The leader of the expedition kept a diary. tree →
• It happened that the men of Lochlann came on an expedition against Ireland. tree →

Note

Countable: an expedition. Spelling: ex-pe-DI-tion. In maths problems about expeditions, look for total distance, food per day and number of days (multiply).