a trigger of a firearm that responds to very slight pressure
informal
any mechanism, reaction, etc, set in operation by slight provocation
( as modifier )
a hair-trigger temper
First recorded in 1815–25
First recorded in 1885–90
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Years of mismanagement and ill-fated transfers have left Spurs with a jumbled squad and a hair trigger for firing coaches.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 14, 2026
Sentiment around the sector remains on a hair trigger, and it won’t take much to knock it back down, like a fictional Substack post on Monday that sent the software ETF down 4.8%.
From Barron's • Feb. 27, 2026
The Xbox Elite 2 Core, as we’re calling it, offers the usual adjustable-tension thumbsticks, wraparound rubberized grip, and shorter hair trigger locks, and it now comes in white.
From The Verge • Sep. 7, 2022
His letters to the editor, fired on a hair trigger, left a trail of gun smoke.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 12, 2021
His sense of right and wrong had been mounted on a hair trigger.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
