turn up trumps

verb

To end up being successful when doing so was uncertain or unlikely.

Opposite
come to nothingcome to noughtdie in the assgo to shit
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Meanings

verbturn up trumps (third-person singular simple present turns up trumps, present participle turning up trumps, simple past and past participle turned up trumps)

present singular third person turns up trumps · participle present turning up trumps · participle past turned up trumps · past turned up trumps · alternative come up trumps

  1. idiomaticTo 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

    Antonyms: come to nothing, come to nought, die in the ass, go to shit

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo end up being successful when doing so was uncertain or unlikely.

Opposite
come to nothingcome to noughtdie in the assgo to shit
Cite this entry
APA

turn up trumps. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/turn%20up%20trumps

MLA

“turn up trumps.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/turn%20up%20trumps. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “turn up trumps,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/turn%20up%20trumps.

Source: turn up trumps on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.