Nearby Words

triggers

[trig-er] Origin

trig·ger

[trig-er]
noun
1.
a small projecting tongue in a firearm that, when pressed by the finger, actuates the mechanism that discharges the weapon.
2.
a device, as a lever, the pulling or pressing of which releases a detent or spring.
3.
anything, as an act or event, that serves as a stimulus and initiates or precipitates a reaction or series of reactions.
4.
Slang. triggerman.
verb (used with object)
5.
to initiate or precipitate (a chain of events, scientific reaction, psychological process, etc.): Their small protest triggered a mass demonstration.
6.
to fire or explode (a gun, missile, etc.) by pulling a trigger or releasing a triggering device: He accidentally triggered his rifle.

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Triggers is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
verb (used without object)
7.
to release a trigger.
8.
to become active; activate.
9.
quick on the trigger, Informal. quick to act or respond; impetuous; alert.

Origin:
1615–25; earlier tricker < Dutch trekker, equivalent to trekk(en) to pull + -er -er1

un·trig·gered, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

trigger
1660, earlier tricker (1621), from Du. trekker "trigger," from trekken "to pull" (see trek). Tricker was the usual form in Eng. until c.1750. The verb is first recorded 1930, from the noun. Trigger-happy is attested from 1943.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

trigger definition


  1. n.
    a hired gunman. (Underworld.) : Get your triggers outa here—then we can talk.
  2. tv.
    to start something; to set something off. : The noise triggered an avalanche.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
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