idiom / phrasal verb · neutral
turn up trumps
UK/tɜːn ʌp trʌmps/US/tɜrn ʌp trʌmps/TRUMPS
speakingtask2
to produce a successful or unexpected good result
Examples
“We feared the plan would fail, but it turned up trumps.”
“Her research turned up trumps when the funding committee saw the data.”
“The new strategy turned up trumps in the final quarter.”
Band 8 sentence
“Despite initial setbacks, the pilot program turned up trumps when student outcomes improved dramatically.”
Collocations
- turn up trumps + when/for
- turn up trumps in the end
Word family
turn up trumps idiomturned up trumps verb phrase (past)
Common mistakes
turn up the trumps→turn up trumps
turn up triumphs→turn up trumps
Say it for a higher band
5succeed→6come through→7+turn up trumps
Synonyms
come through
succeed unexpectedly
Easily confused
come through
“When we needed extra funds, the sponsor came through with a donation.”
Related words
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