hair trigger
IPA: hˈɛrtrˈɪgɝ
noun
- (figurative, US) Any unstable situation.
- (US) Alternative form of hair-trigger [A trigger that will set off a firearm when even a very small pressure is applied.]
adjective
- Alternative form of hair-trigger [Unstable; in a situation that could be worsened by the slightest mistake.]
hair-trigger
IPA: hˈɛrtrˈɪgɝ
noun
- A trigger that will set off a firearm when even a very small pressure is applied.
adjective
- Unstable; in a situation that could be worsened by the slightest mistake.
- Easily angered; having a short temper.
Examples of "hair-trigger" in Sentences
- Thick, rugged winger with soft hands and a hair-trigger release.
- This hair-trigger sensitivity is frustrating in the short run but prevents problems later.
- "It does mellow out the triggered response in a certain population," said Tendall, referring to hair-trigger anxiety reactions.
- Tonight Sheldon Yellen, the CEO of home restoration company Belfor and a man with an emotional hair-trigger, breaks down in tears.
- The hair-trigger response to an obscure board vote stems from the fractious history of the concerts—to many a symbol of the Williamsburg boom.
- They are backed by growing numbers of tactical nuclear weapons that are on a three-minute hair-trigger alert, making Kashmir the world's most dangerous border.
- He also snaps at Senator John McCain, calling him a man "with a hair-trigger temper and a propensity to fashion and shift his positions to appeal to the media."
- But if you think the ability to get our missiles off with less than fifteen minutes notice on potentially ambiguous or unconfirmed warning data in such a hectically compressed interval that you might be justified in using the phrase hair-trigger for it, I wouldn’t disagree.