trigger - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Originally tricker, from Dutch trekker (“pull”, noun, as in drawer-pull, bell-pull), from Dutch trekken (“to drag, draw, pull”).

trigger (plural triggers)

  1. (firearms) A finger-operated lever used to fire a gun.
    Just pull the trigger.
    • 1659 December 30 (date written), Robert Boyle, “[Experiment 14]”, in New Experiments Physico-Mechanicall, Touching the Spring of the Air, and Its Effects […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] H[enry] Hall, printer to the University, for Tho[mas] Robinson, published 1660, →OCLC, page 89:
      [W]e pull'd aſide the Tricker, and obſerv'd, that according to our expectation the force of the Spring of the Lock vvas not ſenſibly abated by the abſence of the Air.
  2. A similar device used to activate any mechanism.
  3. An event that initiates others, or incites a response.
    Sleeping in an unfamiliar room can be a trigger for sleepwalking.
    1. (ASMR) Something that triggers an ASMR response.
  4. A concept or image that upsets somebody by sparking a negative emotional response.
    Antonym: glimmer (neologism, 2020s; a comforting or happy moment)
    emotional trigger
    I can't watch that violent film. Blood is one of my triggers.
  5. (psychology) An event, experience or other stimulus that initiates a traumatic memory or a strong reaction in a person.
  6. (music) An electronic transducer allowing a drum, cymbal, etc. to control an electronic drum unit or similar device.
  7. (music) A device that manually lengthens (or sometimes shortens) the slide or tubing of a brass instrument, allowing the pitch range to be altered while playing.
  8. (electronics) A pulse in an electronic circuit that initiates some component.
  9. (databases) An SQL procedure that may be initiated when a record is inserted, updated or deleted; typically used to maintain referential integrity.
  10. (archaic) A catch to hold the wheel of a carriage on a declivity.
  11. (grammar) An argument whose semantic role determines the choice of a verbal affix, in certain Austronesian languages.

finger-operated lever used to fire a gun

similar device used to activate any mechanism

concept or image that sparks a negative emotional response

music: electronic transducer allowing a percussion instrument to control an electronic device

music: device that manually lengthens the slide or tubing of a brass instrument

SQL procedure

online gaming: text string that causes the player to execute a certain command

trigger (third-person singular simple present triggers, present participle triggering, simple past and past participle triggered)

  1. (transitive) To fire (a weapon).
    Synonyms: activate, detonate, fire, set off
    • 2011, Jim Baggott, The First War of Physics, Pegasus Books, →ISBN:
      A U235 bomb would therefore need to incorporate a gun weighing ten tons. Then there was the question of initiating or triggering the bomb.
  2. (transitive) To cause, to precipitate, to bring (something) about in response or as a result.
    Synonyms: precipitate, set off, cause, activate, initiate
    The controversial article triggered a deluge of angry letters from readers.
    • 2020 August 26, Philip Haigh, “Network News: Three die in ScotRail landslip derailment at Carmont”, in Rail, page 6:
      The accident followed torrential early morning rain that triggered widespread flooding across Scotland's tracks, including south of Carmont.
  3. (transitive, figurative) To spark a response, especially a negative emotional response, in (a person).
    Synonym: push someone's buttons
    This story contains a rape scene and may be triggering for rape victims.
    • 2020 January 25, Ernesto Londoño, Letícia Casado, “Glenn Greenwald in Bolsonaro’s Brazil”, in The New York Times‎[2], →ISSN, archived from the original on 25 January 2020:
      “I think I trigger a lot of their primal rage,” Mr. Greenwald said, referring to Brazilians who support the president. “They view me as someone who deserves to be punished.”
      1. (transitive, figurative, by extension of above, Internet slang) To intentionally offend someone, especially by expressing radical or edgy opinions.
      I encountered a forum user who didn't agree with me, so I wrote some comments with my political slogans to trigger that clueless kiddo.
  4. (intransitive, especially electronics) To activate; to become active.
    • 1997, Mill Operators' Conference, page 182:
      Sodium nitrite (750 ppm) was added after the alarm triggered at three hours, and corrosion did not occur for over eight hours.

to spark a response, especially a negative emotional response, in (someone) — see also offend,‎ affront,‎ rile up

trigger

  1. comparative form of trig: more trig

Unadapted borrowing from English trigger, from Dutch trekker.

trigger m (plural triggers, diminutive triggertje n)

  1. trigger

Unadapted borrowing from English trigger.

trigger n (plural triggere)

  1. trigger