to trip up
27
4.9
- phrasal verb
- /trɪp ʌp/
:
confundir
- I know, it's simple math, but many of us can still get tripped up by it.
- get tripped up
- try to trip up
- mistakes that trip up
What is the the thing that trips you up the most?
- What is the the thing that trips you up the most?
- OK, things that tend to trip people up about completing a square.
- Now what trips up the truth teller though however, is self doubt.
- Like, what's the hurdle or the challenge that continues to trip you up that you're trying to work on right now?
- We're only going to touch upon the things that might trip you up.
- And that's what kind of trips us up because the practical side matters.
- So please keep your distance until such time as you promised to stop tripping me up and making me unhealthy.
- But there is something about meditation that I think is really tripping me up.
- But he says that here's what he's, here's where he thinks Zachariah Sitchin trips up.
- You know, it brings home to us these very abstract ideas that otherwise might, might trip us up.
- I, I actually like when there's a decent Bond villain, but the fact that they keep getting tripped up by Bond means they're not very good villains.
- I think where it trips people up is when they when they hold on to it in the present.
- I just at one point didn't think that it was healthy for me to stay out there and work because I was just getting tripped up a little too much.
Examples
-
The instructions were so complicated that they often trip up new users trying to install the software.
-
What is the the thing that trips you up the most?
-
And what would trip you up?
-
It's not that hard to trip them up on little things.
Fiction book (2000) -
And this is the part of the game that trips up most people.
-
The prosecution could easily trip her up.
-
I bring this up because that other 5% can trip you up if you don't understand it.
Blog text (18) -
What are some common mistakes you make when baking and what trips you up every time you bake?
-
Okay, I see one assumption that seems to be tripping everyone up.
Blog text (1) -
Like, what's the hurdle or the challenge that continues to trip you up that you're trying to work on right now?
Synonyms
641
6.3
To make a mistake that ruins what you are doing
597
2.8
To make a mistake that causes a problem
295
3.0
To forget something by accident
219
2.2
To cause someone to stumble or lose balance
203
9.9
To make a serious mistake that ruins something
48
3.0
To hesitate or make a small mistake when speaking
37
9.9
To do something badly and ruin how it turns out
27
4.1
To make a small careless mistake
17
5.6
To make a silly or careless mistake
8
6.4
To make a mistake that ruins something because you are careless
7
4.4
To make a careless mistake by acting or speaking without thinking
5
7.6
To ruin something by making mistakes or doing it badly
2
6.8
To make an embarrassing mistake because you are careless or nervous
2
6.7
Do a job badly and make a mess of it
1
4.2
Do something that is a serious and embarrassing mistake
1
8.4
To do something wrong by accident in a small, silly way
1
9.9
To ruin something by making a mistake or being careless
To do something badly and make it fail
To make a serious, embarrassing mistake by being careless
To ruin something by a careless mistake
How Serious
7
4.4
- Informal
641
6.3
27
4.9
37
1.0
- Informal
27
4.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to make a mistake / cause someone to make a mistake' is a metaphorical extension of the literal sense of 'trip' (stumble) with 'up' adding a completive/causative nuance, so there is a clear link to the constituent meanings. However, the specific phrasal-verb sense is not fully predictable from the parts alone and particles vary across verbs, so a B1 learner knowing the words may only partially infer the idiomatic usage without prior exposure.
Etymology
The phrasal verb trip up comes from the image of someone walking and their foot hitting something so they stumble; trip is the catching of the foot and up shows the fall. That's why it means 'to make a mistake' or to cause someone to make one.