I. trump 1 /trʌmp/ BrE AmE noun
1 . trumps [plural] ( also trump American English ) the ↑ suit (=one of the four types of cards in a set) chosen to have a higher value than the other suits in a particular card game:
Hearts are trumps.
2 . [countable] ( also trump card ) a card from the ↑ suit that has been chosen to have a higher value than the other suits in a particular game
3 . trump card something that you can do or use in a situation, which gives you an advantage:
But then he decided to play his trump card (=use his advantage) .
They hold all the trump cards (=have things which could give them an advantage) .
4 . come/turn up trumps to provide what is needed, especially unexpectedly and at the last moment:
Paul came up trumps and managed to borrow a car for us.
II. trump 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
1 . to play a trump that beats someone else’s card in a game
2 . to do better than someone else in a situation when people are competing with each other:
By wearing a simple but stunning dress, she had trumped them all.
trump something ↔ up phrasal verb
to use false information to make someone seem guilty of doing something wrong:
They had trumped the whole thing up to get rid of him.
—trumped-up adjective :
Dissidents were routinely arrested on trumped-up charges.