Definition

1. Noun:
   • A deceptive act to make someone appear guilty of a crime they did not commit: A "frame-up" is a scheme or plot in which false evidence is fabricated or circumstances are manipulated to incriminate an innocent person.

Usage

• The word "frame-up" is used to describe a specific type of malicious act, often implying a conspiracy or premeditated plan by one or more individuals to falsely accuse another.
• It is commonly used in contexts involving law, crime, justice, and investigations.
• It functions as a countable noun (e.g., , ).

Examples

• Noun:
  • The defense attorney argued that the entire case was a frame-up orchestrated by a rival gang.
  • He was released from prison after new evidence proved the frame-up.
  • Investigative journalists uncovered a political frame-up designed to discredit the candidate.

Advanced Usage

• "to be a frame-up": To be a situation constituting a false incrimination.
  • From the beginning, the arrest smelled like a frame-up to the experienced detective.
• "to pull a frame-up (on someone)": (Informal) To execute a scheme to frame someone.
  • The corrupt officers tried to pull a frame-up on the honest whistleblower.

Variants and Related Words

• Frame (verb): To produce false evidence to make an innocent person seem guilty.
  • He claimed the police had framed him for the robbery.
• Framing (noun): The act or process of setting someone up with false charges.
  • The framing of the suspect was captured on a hidden camera.

Synonyms

• Setup: A situation engineered to entrap or incriminate someone.
• False charge/accusation: An allegation that is not true.
• Entrapment: The action of tricking someone into committing a crime to secure their prosecution. (Note: "Entrapment" is a specific legal defense, while "frame-up" implies fabricating evidence of a crime that did not occur.)

Related Phrases

• To be framed: The passive state of being a victim of a frame-up.
  • She realized she had been framed when the real culprit confessed.
• Frame job: (Slang) Another term for a frame-up.
  • The whole thing was a clever frame job.

Idioms

• It's a frame-up!: A common exclamation declaring that a situation involves false incrimination.
  • When the planted gun was found, the suspect yelled, "It's a frame-up!"

Noun

1. an act that incriminates someone on a false charge