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

Bass, desperate to trip up her opponent, talked over her so much that the councilmember responded with the line of the night and possibly the race:

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

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

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026

Worries about Fed rate hikes and souring earnings expectations could easily trip up the market for a second straight month.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 5, 2026

After routing their bitter rivals 4-1 in November, they made the short trip up the Seven Sisters Road to inflict another humiliating defeat that pushed Tottenham deeper into the relegation mire.

From Barron's ● Feb. 22, 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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