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]

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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

Thick hair, tattoos, darker pigmentation or aggressive movement can trip up sensors, says John Schuna, associate professor of kinesiology at Oregon State University.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026

But a year after her last trip up a mountain, while working in communications, she became so ill her parents had to rush her to hospital, where she realised she could not feel her legs.

From BBC ● May 30, 2026

In the second week of August, near the end of our stay, I’d arranged for the side trip up to Quang Ngai.

From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien

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