To point out and criticize someone's small verbal mistakes or slips in order to trip them up or make them look bad.
会議中に彼はよく揚げ足を取るので、発言するのをためらってしまう。
He often jumps on people's mistakes during meetings, so I hesitate to speak up.
相手の言葉尻をとらえて揚げ足を取るのは建設的ではない。
Picking apart someone's choice of words to trip them up is not constructive.
SNSで揚げ足を取られて、発言を削除した。
I had my words picked apart on social media, so I deleted the post.
議論の目的が違うのに、些細なことで揚げ足を取るのはやめよう。
Let's stop nitpicking over trivial things when the purpose of the discussion is different.