If someone or something trips a person up , or if they trip up , they fail or make a mistake.
Your own lies will trip you up...
He will do all he can to trip up the new right-wing government...
The two occasions she tripped up tell you nothing about how often she got away with it.
PHRASAL VERB : V n P , V P n (not pron) , V P
see also trip 2, 3