1To 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.