petard

American  

[pi-tahrd] / pɪˈtɑrd /

noun

1. an explosive device formerly used in warfare to blow in a door or gate, form a breach in a wall, etc.

2. a kind of firecracker.

3. Also called Flying Dustbin.  (initial capital letter) a British spigot mortar of World War II that fired a 40-pound (18-kilogram) finned bomb, designed to destroy pillboxes and other concrete obstacles.

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idioms

1. hoist by / with one's own petard, hurt, ruined, or destroyed by the very device or plot one had intended for another.

petard British  

/ pɪˈtɑːd /

noun

1. (formerly) a device containing explosives used to breach a wall, doors, etc

2. being the victim of one's own schemes

3. a type of explosive firework

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Etymology

Origin of petard

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Middle French, equivalent to pet(er) “to break wind” (derivative of pet, from Latin pēditum “a breaking wind,” originally neuter of past participle of pēdere “to break wind”) + -ard noun suffix; -ard

Example Sentences

As the creature who hoists men on their own petards in the ferociously feminist Frankenstein fable, Stone won her second Oscar.

From Los Angeles Times

You have to give the union credit for hoisting Mr. Newsom on his own petard.

From The Wall Street Journal

AI companies just been hoisted with their own petard?

From Los Angeles Times

As the accidental spokesperson for politically conscious casting, he’d rather not be hoisted on his own petard.

From Los Angeles Times

On the other hand, I was happily hoist by my own obsessive petard by a passing reference to a “dirty martini.”

From Washington Post