trip up

Idioms  

1. Make or cause someone to make a mistake, as in The other finalist tripped up when he was asked to spell “trireme,” or They tripped him up with that difficult question. [Second half of 1700s]

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

trip up

Rams safety Kamren Kinchens prevented Shakir from scoring when he just barely managed to trip up the Buffalo receiver.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

“I don’t think this will trip up their plans for the studio’s future,” he said.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026

There are endless so-called edge cases—unusual situations—that could trip up self-driving cars.

From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026

"If you are on the beach resort, you can go and do a day trip up into the mountains," she says.

From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2026

Then we all crammed inside for the four-hour trip up winding, rutted roads to the mountains.

From "Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Changed the World" by Malala Yousafzai

Related Words

• flounder
• hesitate
• reel
• waver
• wobble