turn up trumps en · VERB
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Meanings
-
(idiomatic) To end up being successful when doing so was uncertain or unlikely.
So nearly all her investment turned up trumps, and Edward was really in fit case to reopen Branshaw Manor and once more to assume his position in the county.
1915, Ford Madox Hueffer [i.e., Ford Madox Ford], chapter V, in The Good Soldier […], Harmondsworth, Middlesex [London]: Penguin Books, published 1972 (1982 printing), →ISBN, part I, page 62:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| come up trumps | alternative | lexicographic | |
| turning up trumps | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| turns up trumps | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| turned up trumps | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| turned up trumps | Tense=Past | lexicographic |
Antonyms
come to nought · go to shit · come to nothing · die in the ass