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

“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

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

Macro concerns didn’t trip up stocks, as the three major benchmarks rose on the day, led by the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 27, 2026

I still had to navigate the fallen bricks so I would not trip up again.

From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter

Related Words

• flounder
• hesitate
• reel
• waver
• wobble