trigger
/ˈtɹɪɡɚ/ verb C2- To fire (a weapon); to set off or trip (a mechanism or function of a device).
- To cause, to precipitate, to bring (something) about in response or as a result. · The controversial article triggered a deluge of angry letters from readers.
- To spark a response, especially a negative emotional response, in (a person). · This story contains a rape scene and may be triggering for rape victims.
- To activate; to become active.
He/she/it triggers · Past triggered · Past participle triggered · -ing form triggering
Verb forms
- Base form
- trigger
- He/she/it
- triggers
- Past
- triggered
- Past participle
- triggered
- -ing form
- triggering
From the library
I stooped, panting, and pressed my pistol to the dreadful, shimmering head, but it was useless to press the trigger.
You do not know at all, and in this way they will chase him to Paris, without drawing a trigger.”
I have always held, too, that pistol practice should be distinctly an open-air pastime; and when Holmes, in one of his queer humours, would sit in an armchair with his hair-trigger and a hundred Boxer cartridges, and proceed to adorn the opposite wall with a patriotic V.
Then his finger tightened on the trigger.
Other matches
Learn trigger in real texts
With a free account, hover any word in the library for its meaning, hear it read aloud, save words for review timed to your memory, and see how much of each book you already know.