To inflate or pad numbers (e.g., sales, scores) to make them look better than they really are.
決算で売上に下駄を履かせると、後で大きな問題になる。
If you pad the sales figures in the financial statement, it will become a big problem later.
彼は成績に下駄を履かせて合格させたと噂された。
There were rumors that he had padded the grades to let someone pass.
会計担当者が数字に下駄を履かせていたことが監査で発覚した。
An audit revealed that the accountant had inflated the figures.