hoist by one's own petard

English

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• hoist with one's own petard
• hoist on one's own petard
• hoisted by one's own petard

Etymology

From the play Hamlet (III.iv.207) by Shakespeare:

• For tis the sport to haue the enginer / Hoist with his owne petar.

Adjective

hoist by one's own petard

1. (idiomatic) To be hurt, or destroyed by one's own plot or device, of one's own doing which one intended for another; to be "blown up by one's own bomb".

   He has no one to blame but himself; he was hoisted by his own petard.

Usage notes

• In the US, the forms in "hoisted" are about as common as the forms in "hoist", in contrast to other usage of the past and past participle in which "hoisted" is fifteen times more common.

Translations

to be hurt or destroyed by one's own plot or device

Finnish: mennä omaan ansaansa (fi) Icelandic: genginn í eigin gildru (is) m., (to be hoist by one's own petard) ganga í eigin gildru (is), fallinn á eigin bragði (is) m., (to be hoist by one's own petard) falla á eigin bragði (is)

Japanese: 罠拵えて首突っ込む (ja) (わなこしらえてくびつっこむ, wana koshiraete kubi tsukkomu)

See also

• rod for one's own back