trigger

English

Etymology

Originally tricker, from Dutch trekker (“pull”, noun, as in drawer-pull, bell-pull), from trekken (“to drag, draw, pull”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹɪɡə/
• Rhymes: -ɪɡə(r)

Noun

trigger (plural triggers)

1. A finger-operated lever used to fire a gun.

   Just pull the trigger.

2. A similar device used to activate any mechanism.
3. An event that initiates others, or incites a response.

   Sleeping in an unfamiliar room can be a trigger for sleepwalking.

4. A concept or image that upsets somebody.

   I can't watch that violent film. Blood is one of my triggers.

5. (psychology) An event, experience or other stimulus that initiates a traumatic memory or action in a person.
6. (electronics) A pulse in an electronic circuit that initiates some component.
7. (databases) An SQL procedure that may be initiated when a record is inserted, updated or deleted; typically used to maintain referential integrity.
8. (online gaming) A text string that, when received by a player, will cause the player to execute a certain command.
9. (archaic) A catch to hold the wheel of a carriage on a declivity.

Derived terms

• trigger-happy
• trigger point
• trigger warning

Translations

finger-operated lever used to fire a gun

• Afrikaans: sneller
• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: gallet (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 扳機 (zh), 扳机 (zh) (bānjī)

• Czech: spoušť (cs) f
• Danish: udløser c
• Esperanto: baskulo
• Finnish: liipaisin (fi)
• French: gâchette (fr) f
• Galician: can (gl) m
• Georgian: სასხლეტი (sasxleṭi)
• German: Abzug (de) m
• Greek: σκανδάλη (el) f (skandáli)
• Hebrew: הדק‎ m (hédeq)
• Hungarian: ravasz (hu)
• Icelandic: please add this translation if you can
• Indonesian: pelatuk (id)
• Irish: truicear m
• Italian: grilletto (it) m

• Japanese: 引き金 (ja) (ひきがね, hikigane), 鉷 (kō, gu)
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Macedonian: чкрапало n (čkrapalo)
• Malay: picu n
• Maori: keu
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian Bokmål: utløser, utløyser
• Norwegian Nynorsk: utløysar
• Persian: please add this translation if you can
• Polish: spust (pl) m, cyngiel (pl) m
• Portuguese: gatilho (pt) m
• Russian: спусково́й крючо́к (ru) m (spuskovój krjučók)
• Scottish Gaelic: snap m
• Slovak: spúšť f
• Spanish: gatillo (es) m
• Tagalog: gatilyo, kulbitan, kaltisan
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: [4, 5] tetikleme
• Urdu: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

similar device used to activate any mechanism

• Czech: spoušť (cs) f
• Danish: udløser c
• Esperanto: baskulo
• German: Auslöser (de) m
• Greek: σκανδάλη (el) f (skandáli)
• Irish: truicear m

• Italian: levetta f
• Maori: keu
• Polish: spust (pl) m, wyzwalacz m
• Portuguese: gatilho (pt)
• Slovak: spúšťač m

event that initiates others, or incites a response

• Czech: spoušť (cs) f, spouštěč m
• Indonesian: pemicu (id)

• Italian: innesco (it) m, detonatore (it) m
• Portuguese: gatilho (pt) m

pulse in an electronic circuit that initiates some component

• Italian: impulso (it) m

• Portuguese: gatilho (pt) m

SQL procedure

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 觸發器 (zh), 触发器 (zh) (chùfāqì)

• Japanese: トリガ (toriga)

• Polish: wyzwalacz m
• Russian: три́ггер (ru) m (trígger)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: gâchette f (1), déclenchement m (3)
• German: Abzug (de) m, Auslöser (de) m
• Icelandic: gikkur (is) m, byssugikkur m

• Maori: keu
• Polish: spust (pl) m
• Spanish: gatillo (es) m, disparador (es) m

Verb

trigger (third-person singular simple present triggers, present participle triggering, simple past and past participle triggered)

1. (transitive) To fire a weapon.
   • 2011, Baggott, Jim, The First War of Physics, Pegasus Books, ISBN 9781605987699:

     A U235 bomb would therefore need to incorporate a gun weighing ten tons. Then there was the question of initiating or triggering the bomb.

2. (transitive) To initiate something.

   The controversial article triggered a deluge of angry letters from readers.

3. (transitive) To spark a response, especially a negative emotional response, in (someone).

   This story contains a rape scene and may be triggering for rape victims.

Synonyms

• (fire a weapon): activate, detonate, fire
• (initiate something): activate, initiate
• (spark a response): push someone's buttons

Translations

to fire a weapon

• Dutch: afvuren (nl), vuren (nl)
• Finnish: laukaista (fi)
• Georgian: სროლა (srola), გასროლა (gasrola)
• Greek: πυροδοτώ (el) (pyrodotó)
• Hungarian: elsüt (hu)

• Italian: premere il grilletto
• Portuguese: apertar o gatilho, atirar (pt)
• Spanish: apretar el gatillo, detonar (es)
• Turkish: ateşlemek (tr)

to initiate something

• Dutch: initiëren (nl), activeren (nl), ontketenen (nl)
• Finnish: käynnistää (fi)
• German: auslösen (de)
• Greek: πυροδοτώ (el) (pyrodotó)

• Hungarian: kivált (hu)
• Italian: innescare
• Portuguese: desencadear (pt)
• Spanish: desencadenar (es)

See also

• Trigger on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Database trigger on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Further reading

• trigger in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• trigger in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• trigger at OneLook Dictionary Search