How to Use hair trigger in a Sentence
hair trigger
noun-
His letters to the editor, fired on a hair trigger, left a trail of gun smoke.
—Los Angeles Times, 12 July 2021
-
Long-term stress can mean our fight-or-flight response does its thing on a hair trigger.
—Eleanor Morgan, refinery29.com, 12 Nov. 2021
-
The demon core, destined for use in a weapon of mass destruction, was designed to have a hair trigger.
—Julian G. West, The Atlantic, 2 Apr. 2018
-
Tested by predators of every stripe, its nerves are cocked against a hair trigger.
—Tom Davis, Field & Stream, 10 Jan. 2023
-
Those who did not lose their homes live on a hair trigger, choked for weeks by thick smoke and always girded for a quick escape.
—Thomas Fuller, New York Times, 18 Sep. 2020
-
With every hair trigger, the flytrap produces more enzymes, keeping count to keep up with the size of its prey.
—Kiona N. Smith, Discover Magazine, 31 May 2016
-
All these moves would make the world safer and might also dissuade China, which does not have its missiles on a hair trigger, from adopting that policy.
—The Editors, Scientific American, 1 Mar. 2017
-
Since Lynx, my 4-year-old daughter, dragged a bundle of harnesses into the yard, our sled dogs — which have a hair trigger that goes off at the first sight of any mushing gear — had been in a literal frenzy.
—Joseph Robertia, Anchorage Daily News, 1 Feb. 2018
-
The controller is notable for mechanical buttons that respond on a hair trigger.
—Popular Science, 9 June 2020
-
The accelerator's hair trigger delivered more responsiveness for quicker pep off the line, and the ride felt much firmer — even choppy at times.
—Jennifer Geiger, USA TODAY, 23 Feb. 2018
-
So far there’s been no launch, but the strange shooting death this weekend of a South Korean official who might have been looking to enter the North by boat nonetheless highlights the hair trigger on which the Peninsula still rests.
—John Bolton, WSJ, 29 Sep. 2020
-
But try telling that to Washington politicians who are on hair trigger alert for any development that might define the early months of a new administration.
—Stephen Collinson, CNN, 10 May 2021
-
He is charged with illuminating the line between right and wrong at a time when war seems but a hair trigger from peace, when the ways to kill grow ever more sophisticated, when the consequences stream round the world instantaneously.
—Mary Beth McCauley, The Christian Science Monitor, 23 May 2022
-
The quick escalation and number of people involved in the destruction showed Minneapolis remains on a hair trigger three months after the police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man.
—John Ewoldt, Star Tribune, 27 Aug. 2020
-
The loosening of limits has occurred as violent political rhetoric rises and police in some places fear bloodshed among an armed populace on a hair trigger.
—Mike McIntire, BostonGlobe.com, 26 Nov. 2022
-
Many experts have urged Biden to reform the launch system, perhaps requiring two or more people to authorize nuclear weapons use, or taking the whole system off a hair trigger altogether.
—Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 20 Jan. 2021
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hair trigger.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Last Updated: