trigger

Pluraltriggers

Formstriggers, triggering, triggered

1. 1
   nouncountable

   A finger-operated lever that fires a gun when pulled.

   The soldier squeezed the trigger in a single smooth motion.

   A light pull on the trigger was enough to release the shot.

   Note

   The firearm lever is the sense the rest of the word grows from, and its name means simply 'a pull'. English first said tricker, from Dutch trekker, the word for a drawer-pull or bell-pull, from trekken, 'to draw'. Robert Boyle still writes Tricker in 1659. The verb that goes with it is pull, as in pull the trigger.

2. 2
   nouncountable

   An event that sets others in motion or provokes a response.

   The assassination served as the trigger for a wider war.

   Rising prices were the trigger that pushed workers to strike.

   Similarcatalyst, spark, cause, impetus, stimulus

3. 3
   verbtransitive

   To cause something to happen or to bring it about as a result.

   The court ruling triggered protests across the country.

   An unexpected comment can trigger a chain of events.

   Similarcause, initiate, precipitate, activate

4. 4
   nouncountable

   An event, experience, or stimulus that sets off a traumatic memory or strong reaction in a person.

   Her therapist helped her identify the triggers behind her panic attacks.

   Certain crowded places remain a powerful trigger for his anxiety.

   Similarstressor, stimulus, cue

   Note

   Trauma psychology uses the word for a cue that can be sensory, situational or interpersonal. Such a cue reactivates a traumatic memory and often brings intrusive recall, heightened arousal or dissociation. The usual verb with it is identify, because therapy often starts by naming a person's triggers. Looser everyday uses, where the word means anything upsetting, belong to the everyday 'upsetting image' sense.

5. 5
   verbfigurativelytransitive

   To spark a reaction in a person, especially a negative emotional one.

   The documentary triggered many viewers who had lived through the disaster.

   He didn't mean to trigger her with the offhand remark.

   Similarupset, distress, provoke, disturb

   Note

   The verb leads two lives, and tone decides which one a reader meets. In content warnings it is careful and sympathetic, as when a scene may be triggering for survivors. In political argument it turns mocking. Donald Trump Jr.'s Triggered (2019) uses it as a jibe, and to trigger an opponent means to provoke them on purpose.

6. 6
   nouncountable

   A subject, image, or other cue that provokes distress in someone, typically by stirring up painful memories or feelings.

   The author added a warning because the chapter contained a possible trigger.

   Graphic images of war can be a trigger for those who served.

   Note

   Everyday speech makes this sense personal. People talk about my triggers, as in blood is one of my triggers, and about an emotional trigger. What is named is usually an image or idea rather than an event, which sets it apart from the clinical trauma sense. The matching verb is the 'upset someone' verb.

7. 7
   nouncountable

   A lever like a gun's, used to set any mechanism in action.

   She squeezed the trigger on the spray bottle to release the cleaner.

   The mechanism activates the moment the trigger is pressed.

8. 8
   verbtransitive

   To fire or discharge a weapon.

   The hunter triggered the shotgun the instant the bird rose.

   Soldiers are trained never to trigger a weapon carelessly.

   Similarfire, activate, detonate

9. 9
   verbintransitive

   To activate or switch into an active state.

   The backup system triggered automatically during the outage.

   These relays trigger when the voltage rises above a set level.

   Similaractivate, engage, fire, trip

   Oppositedeactivate

   Note

   Here the verb takes no object, and the device itself is the subject: an alarm triggered at three hours, or a relay triggers when the voltage rises. In electronics it means switching from inactive to active, typically when an input crosses a threshold. In the causative verb, by contrast, something outside the device does the triggering.

10. 10
    nouncountable

    A pulse in an electronic circuit that initiates the action of some component.

    The oscilloscope captures the waveform each time it receives a trigger.

    Engineers timed the trigger to fire exactly at the clock edge.

    Note

    In circuit design the trigger is usually a brief pulse or the edge of a signal arriving at an input. Its job is to start a defined response, such as a flip-flop changing state or an oscilloscope beginning its sweep. Timing is the point of it, which is why engineers speak of aligning a trigger with a clock edge.

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