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View synonyms for trump up

trump up

verb

  1. tr, adverb to concoct or invent (a charge, accusation, etc) so as to deceive or implicate someone


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Idioms and Phrases

Concoct fraudulently, fabricate, as in They trumped up a charge of conspiracy , or She had trumped up another excuse for not doing the work . This expression, first recorded in 1695, uses trump in the sense of “devise fraudulently,” a usage otherwise obsolete.

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Example Sentences

Obsequious menials might even set the dogs at him, or trump up a charge against him and put him in jail.

I can trump up some excuse to mother about not staying all night with you, as I intended.

If we hang around here for another day they'll trump up another fake charge an' clean us out!

If you haven't, you'd better trump up one together, and I'll send you my attorney to hear it.

But a lawyer with no cases on hand has to trump up something to advertise himself.

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petrichor

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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