"flip the script" meaning in English

See flip the script in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Audio: En-au-flip the script.ogg [Australia] Forms: flips the script [present, singular, third-person], flipping the script [participle, present], flipped the script [participle, past], flipped the script [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} flip the script (third-person singular simple present flips the script, present participle flipping the script, simple past and past participle flipped the script)
  1. (Canada, US, informal) To reverse a situation, especially by doing something unexpected. Tags: Canada, US, informal Synonyms: turn the tables
    Sense id: en-flip_the_script-en-verb-5pvkjK28 Categories (other): American English, Canadian English, English entries with incorrect language header

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for flip the script meaning in English (3.1kB)

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "flips the script",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "flipping the script",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "flipped the script",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "flipped the script",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "flip the script (third-person singular simple present flips the script, present participle flipping the script, simple past and past participle flipped the script)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Canadian English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w"
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2003, Deborah Gregory, The Cheetah Girls: Livin' Large!, page 405",
          "text": "Some people walk with a panther or strike a buffalo stance that makes you wanna dance. Other people flip the script on the day of the jackal that'll make you cackle.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008, Brian Peterson, Move Over, Girl: A Novel, page 63",
          "text": "But sometimes she'd flip the script and come out with some tight shit on, turning that magnetic strength up to full power.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, Inkwell, Children in the Belly of the Beast: Breeding Ground for Social Pathology, page 148",
          "text": "We need to flip the script and start showing that same level of compassion and love toward each other, and perhaps we will then gain respect and control over our communities.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Adrianne Byrd, King's Promise, page 94",
          "text": "And we're not talking about me. We're talking about you. What's with you Kings? You're always trying to flip the script on me.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022 June 2, A. O. Scott, “Are the Movies Liberal?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN",
          "text": "I know there are exceptions, and I’m not trying to flip the script and reveal the reactionary face of Hollywood, though it’s true that in the years of the Production Code (from the mid-’30s until the late ’60s), Hollywood upheld a fairly conservative vision of American life.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To reverse a situation, especially by doing something unexpected."
      ],
      "id": "en-flip_the_script-en-verb-5pvkjK28",
      "links": [
        [
          "Canada",
          "Canada"
        ],
        [
          "US",
          "American English"
        ],
        [
          "reverse",
          "reverse"
        ],
        [
          "unexpected",
          "unexpected"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Canada, US, informal) To reverse a situation, especially by doing something unexpected."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "turn the tables"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "US",
        "informal"
      ]
    }
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  "sounds": [
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      "audio": "En-au-flip the script.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/97/En-au-flip_the_script.ogg/En-au-flip_the_script.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/En-au-flip_the_script.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "flip the script"
}
{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "flips the script",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "flipping the script",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "flipped the script",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "flipped the script",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "flip the script (third-person singular simple present flips the script, present participle flipping the script, simple past and past participle flipped the script)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "Canadian English",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English informal terms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2003, Deborah Gregory, The Cheetah Girls: Livin' Large!, page 405",
          "text": "Some people walk with a panther or strike a buffalo stance that makes you wanna dance. Other people flip the script on the day of the jackal that'll make you cackle.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2008, Brian Peterson, Move Over, Girl: A Novel, page 63",
          "text": "But sometimes she'd flip the script and come out with some tight shit on, turning that magnetic strength up to full power.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, Inkwell, Children in the Belly of the Beast: Breeding Ground for Social Pathology, page 148",
          "text": "We need to flip the script and start showing that same level of compassion and love toward each other, and perhaps we will then gain respect and control over our communities.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011, Adrianne Byrd, King's Promise, page 94",
          "text": "And we're not talking about me. We're talking about you. What's with you Kings? You're always trying to flip the script on me.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2022 June 2, A. O. Scott, “Are the Movies Liberal?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN",
          "text": "I know there are exceptions, and I’m not trying to flip the script and reveal the reactionary face of Hollywood, though it’s true that in the years of the Production Code (from the mid-’30s until the late ’60s), Hollywood upheld a fairly conservative vision of American life.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To reverse a situation, especially by doing something unexpected."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Canada",
          "Canada"
        ],
        [
          "US",
          "American English"
        ],
        [
          "reverse",
          "reverse"
        ],
        [
          "unexpected",
          "unexpected"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(Canada, US, informal) To reverse a situation, especially by doing something unexpected."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "turn the tables"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "US",
        "informal"
      ]
    }
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  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-flip the script.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/9/97/En-au-flip_the_script.ogg/En-au-flip_the_script.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/En-au-flip_the_script.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "flip the script"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-30 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (210104c and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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