sandbag

[kalypsoh]

Hello,

In the movie Philadelphia (1993) a witness uses the verb "sandbag" in his testimony
Here is some context: " We've had lawyers with heart attacks,ulcers,prostate cancer... . Noone sandbagged them" This witness was asked if the plaintiff's former employers had intentionally misplaced important documents so as to make him look incompetent and fire him for incompetence. My problem is getting the meaning of sandbag in this particular context, would there be an equivalent verb I could use because I'm not sure if it refers to "trick" someone or to "fire" someone. I could use some help ! Thanks

 

[GoesStation]

I'd need more context to make a confident guess at the meaning. Without it, I can only point out that one surrounds something with sandbags to protect it from an outside thread like bullets, bombs, or flooding.

Does that help clarify the verb?

 

[Roman55]

Or definition 2.1 here. It seems to fit quite well.