trump up

verb

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

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.

Related Words

• build up
• compose
• create
• design
• erect
• establish
• fashion
• forge
• form
• formulate
• found
• manufacture
• organize
• produce
• put up
• set up
• shape