trigger
Americannoun
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triggers
plural
-
a small projecting tongue in a firearm that, when pressed by the finger, actuates the mechanism that discharges the weapon.
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a device, as a lever, the pulling or pressing of which releases a catch or spring.
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anything, as an act or event, that serves as a stimulus and initiates or precipitates a reaction or series of reactions.
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something that evokes the memory of a traumatic experience, setting off an intense negative emotional reaction.
This issue of the magazine contains accounts of sexual assault, and may be a trigger for some people.
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Slang. triggerman.
verb (used with object)
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triggers,
present (3rd person singular)
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triggered,
past participle, past
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triggering
present participle
-
to initiate or precipitate (a chain of events, scientific reaction, psychological process, etc.).
Their small protest triggered a mass demonstration.
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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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to set off a negative emotional reaction in (someone), as by evoking the memory of a traumatic experience, repeatedly raising a sensitive issue, etc..
I missed seeing my mom in the ICU before she died, and imagining her there triggers me every time I see ICU footage on TV.
verb (used without object)
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triggers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
triggered,
past participle, past
-
triggering
present participle
-
to release a trigger.
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to become active; activate.
idioms
noun
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a small projecting lever that activates the firing mechanism of a firearm
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machinery a device that releases a spring-loaded mechanism or a similar arrangement
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any event that sets a course of action in motion
verb
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(usually foll by off) to give rise (to); set off
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to fire or set in motion by or as by pulling a trigger
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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triggersimple
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triggerssimple
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have triggeredperfect
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has triggeredperfect
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am triggeringprogressive
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are triggeringprogressive
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is triggeringprogressive
-
have been triggeringperfect progressive
-
has been triggeringperfect progressive
Past
-
triggeredsimple
-
had triggeredperfect
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was triggeringprogressive
-
were triggeringprogressive
-
had been triggeringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of trigger
First recorded in 1615–25; earlier tricker, from Dutch trekker, equivalent to trekk(en) “to pull” + -er -er 1
Explanation
A trigger is a metal lever that when pulled discharges a gun. You shoot the gun by pulling the trigger. Trigger can also mean the start of a process––violent protests might trigger a revolution. Certain scents, places, or old love songs can be said to trigger, or activate, memories. If you get weepy when you hear the national anthem, that may be because it triggers thoughts of family, home, baseball and the Fourth of July. For someone in frail health, a seemingly minor problem like getting a common cold, might trigger a series of physical responses that end up landing them in the hospital.
Vocabulary lists containing trigger
"Fears and Phobias," Vocabulary from the article
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Because of that, scientists had often assumed that the earliest versions of the bacterium probably could not trigger severe outbreaks.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026
And National Australia Bank's Rodrigo Catril added that the decision not to hike would "carry credibility risks and, with a hike almost fully priced, a disappointing hold could trigger a Treasury sell-off".
From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026
Poring over the CPI numbers, many economists now think that the core version of the PCE price index rose by 0.3% last month, a pace many Fed watchers have speculated could trigger a rate hike.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
The minister said this case would trigger one of the first uses of the decree.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
Forget trigger happy—speaker happy is more my thing.
From "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas
"This unpredictability triggers the dopamine system, creating a compulsive cycle of seeking and anticipation," University of Leicester lecturer Quynh Hoang wrote.
From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026
In the next breath, he mentions his Saturn return, the astrological transit that often triggers a reevaluation of one’s pursuits and place in the cosmic octagon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026
The lien generally doesn’t have to be repaid until the borrower sells the property, refinances the mortgage or otherwise triggers repayment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
That change triggers signaling within the retina in a way that resembles the normal visual process.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026
And second, some genes are activated by external triggers or by random chance.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
U.S. stocks fell after Anthropic Chief Executive Dario Amodei called for a slowdown in artificial-intelligence development and as another increase in oil futures triggered interest-rate worries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
The incident triggered a petition signed by more than 1,000 employees at cutting-edge AI companies calling on the US government to help slow the release of the most advanced AI models.
From Barron's ● Sep. 13, 2026
Because the bacteria were no longer alive, they could not cause an infection, but they still triggered a temporary inflammatory response.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 13, 2026
For the Al-Drimly family, the spark of hope triggered by the photo hasn’t resulted in anything concrete.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2026
It lay dormant, hidden inside the very DNA of a Glitcher until it was triggered by a Glitch platform in ways I still didn’t completely understand.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
The immune system interprets this misplaced genetic material as a danger signal, triggering an inflammatory response.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026
The embryo grows until it causes the organ to rupture, triggering catastrophic bleeding.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
The volcano collapsed in December 2018 triggering a huge tsunami which killed over 400 people, and displaced and injured thousands more on the nearby coastlines of Sumatra and Java.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026
Panama has declared a nationwide emergency over El Nino, a weather pattern developing over the Pacific Ocean that is triggering worldwide changes in winds, atmospheric pressure and rainfall and pushing up global temperatures.
From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026
At the periphery, interstellar matter is compressed by the supernova shock wave, triggering new generations of cloud collapse and star formation.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
