triggers

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of trigger.

   Therapists help patients identify the emotional triggers behind their panic attacks.

   The control panel had a row of triggers wired to separate launch systems.

   Note

   The plural covers every kind of trigger, from the levers that fire guns to the stimuli that set off a reaction in a person. In talk about emotions, triggers are events, images or experiences that bring back a traumatic memory or a strong feeling. Drummers have triggers of their own: transducers that let a drum or cymbal control an electronic unit. The same spelling also serves as the present-tense verb.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of trigger.

   The motion sensor triggers an alarm whenever someone crosses the threshold.

   A sudden drop in temperature triggers the heating system automatically.

   Note

   This form works both with an object and without one. Usually something triggers something else: a sensor triggers an alarm, a remark triggers an argument. But a device can also be the subject with nothing after it, as in "the alarm triggers when the door opens." In the figurative use the object is a person, and what triggers someone sparks a painful emotional response in them.

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