trip up
phrasal verb
tripped up; tripping up; trips up
: to cause (someone) to make a mistake
He tried to trip up the cashier as she counted his change.
Examples of trip up in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Hmmm, as Ishiba gets tripped up by the sort of gift voucher scandal that’s become an unfortunate LDP hallmark.
—
William Pesek, Forbes, 20 Mar. 2025
The columnist, who is known for being a critic of Meghan and of her husband, Prince Harry, speculated that the duchess got tripped up again by the trademark office because she had been distracted by the debut of her lifestyle show.
—Martha Ross, The Mercury News, 19 Mar. 2025
Some issues can also trip up tax refunds, such as if there are math errors on your return, missing or incorrect Social Security numbers or misspelled names, according to the IRS.
—Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 30 Jan. 2025
After attempting to apologize, which Whitfield couldn’t receive because they both were being tripped up by semantics, Hassan went back to her room, still oblivious to what had been said.
—Victoria Uwumarogie, Essence, 24 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for trip up
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
William Pesek, Forbes, 20 Mar. 2025
The columnist, who is known for being a critic of Meghan and of her husband, Prince Harry, speculated that the duchess got tripped up again by the trademark office because she had been distracted by the debut of her lifestyle show.
—Martha Ross, The Mercury News, 19 Mar. 2025
Some issues can also trip up tax refunds, such as if there are math errors on your return, missing or incorrect Social Security numbers or misspelled names, according to the IRS.
—Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 30 Jan. 2025
After attempting to apologize, which Whitfield couldn’t receive because they both were being tripped up by semantics, Hassan went back to her room, still oblivious to what had been said.
—Victoria Uwumarogie, Essence, 24 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for trip up
Cite this Entry
“Trip up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trip%20up. Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share