trump up

verb

trumped up; trumping up; trumps up

transitive verb

1
: to concoct especially with intent to deceive : fabricate, invent
2
archaic : to cite as support for an action or claim

Examples of trump up in a Sentence

parents who were always trumping up little projects for their children to do around the house
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Some of those on sent to the island, had been arrested on trumped up charges, or false accusations aimed at settling old scores, while the prison population also included hardened criminals. Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 3 Dec. 2024 In announcing the pardon, the president essentially claimed—without acknowledging the irony in his words—that the charges against this son were somehow trumped up by his own Justice Department. Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 2 Dec. 2024 Whelan had been held for more than five years by Russian authorities on what his family and the U.S. government insisted were trumped up charges of espionage. Todd Spangler, Detroit Free Press, 1 Aug. 2024 He was arrested on trumped up charges and lost everything. Maria L. La Ganga, Los Angeles Times, 6 June 2024 Weiss contends gun charges not 'trumped up' because of Trump The gun charges represent just one of many legal battles Hunter Biden faces. USA TODAY, 17 Jan. 2024 Formerly Baathist party soldiers and other secular rebels have grown out their beards and trumped up their Islamist bona fides on YouTube to outbid their rebel peers. Lionel Beehner, Foreign Affairs, 12 Nov. 2015 The opposition saw its chief leaders sidelined on criminal charges that their supporters claimed were trumped up. Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 7 Feb. 2024 Some students and professors rushed to the defense of the student groups, arguing that the allegations against them were trumped up or that the university was, at best, enforcing its rules selectively. Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker, 2 Dec. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1695, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of trump up was in 1695

Dictionary Entries Near trump up

Cite this Entry

“Trump up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trump%20up. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!