hair-trigger

English

Alternative forms

• hair trigger

Etymology

From hair +‎ trigger.

Pronunciation

• (Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈhɛɹˌtɹɪ.ɡɚ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhɛɚˌtɹɪɡ.ɚ/

Noun

hair-trigger (plural hair-triggers)

1. A trigger that will set off a firearm when even a very small pressure is applied.
   • 1847, Francis Parkman, The Oregon Trail:

     […] the hunter brings the sight of his rifle to bear; lightly and delicately his finger presses upon the hair-trigger.

   • 1870–1871 (date written), Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter LXXVIII, in Roughing It, Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company [et al.], published 1872, →OCLC, page 560:

     Is your laugh hung on a hair-trigger?—that is, is it critical, or can you get it off easy?

Translations

gun mechanism

• Bulgarian: мек спусък m (mek spusǎk)
• Russian: шне́ллер (ru) m (šnéller)
• Spanish: gatillo de pleo m

Adjective

hair-trigger (not comparable)

1. Unstable; in a situation that could be worsened by the slightest mistake.
2. Easily angered; having a short temper.

   Synonym: hair-triggered

   • 1922, Peter B. Kyne, Cappy Rick Retires, page 339:

     "Gus," the latter began, "am I right in assuming that you possess a reasonable amount of influence with that hair-trigger partner of yours, Live Wire Luiz?"

   • 2014 October 21, Oliver Brown, “Oscar Pistorius jailed for five years – sport afforded no protection against his tragic fallibilities: Bladerunner's punishment for killing Reeva Steenkamp is but a frippery when set against the burden that her bereft parents, June and Barry, must carry [print version: No room for sentimentality in this tragedy, 13 September 2014, p. S22]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Sport)‎^[1]:

     [I]n the 575 days since [Oscar] Pistorius shot dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, there has been an unseemly scramble to construct revisionist histories, to identify evidence beneath that placid exterior of a pugnacious, hair-trigger personality.