Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

frame-up

[freym-uhp]
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
noun Informal.
  1. a fraudulent incrimination of an innocent person.

Origin of frame-up

1895–1900, Americanism; frame + up, modeled on nominalizations of phrasal verbs, with up as perfective particle
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for frame-up

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • “It kinda looks to me like a frame-up,” he resumed from his fresh viewpoint.

    Rim o' the World

    B. M. Bower

  • Blowed if I see why she'd do it, but it might be they fixed a frame-up between them.

    The Lion's Mouse

    C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson

  • I knew from the first that the whole thing was to be a frame-up.

    Heist Job on Thizar

    Gordon Randall Garrett

  • “That the whole darned deal was a frame-up,” declared Uncle Jepson.

    The Range Boss

    Charles Alden Seltzer

  • The most I'd have got on that frame-up would've been ten years.

    The Man Who Hated Mars

    Gordon Randall Garrett

British Dictionary definitions for frame-up

frame-up

noun slang
  1. a conspiracy to incriminate someone on a false charge
  2. a plot to bring about a dishonest result, as in a contest
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012