Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

hoist by one's own petard

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.95 in modern English

Syllables: hoist by one's own petard
IPA

34

Scrabble Score

20

Letters

1

Syllables

14

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Hurt or destroyed by one's own plot or device intended for another; "blown up by one's own bomb".

Example Sentences

"He has no one to blame but himself; he was hoisted by his own petard."
"For tis the ſport to haue the enginer / Hoiſt with his owne petar, an't ſhall goe hard"
"Unhappily, the country as well as Mr. Marples has been hoist by the Minister's petard. (Mr. Marples was the Minister concerned)"
"The danger with Trump would seem to be that, like Berlusconi, he would be hoist by his own petard, self-destructing precisely through the agent of his rise, and dragging the rest of us with him."
"After a while Bond said: 'It's very satisfactory to be a corpse who changes places with his murderers. For them it certainly was a case of being hoist with their own petard.'"
"At last, the opposition spoke with one voice, and Boris Johnson was hoist by his own petard. It’s hard to see how he gets out of it."

Etymology

From the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, see quotations.

Inflected Forms

hoist with one's own petard (alternative) hoist on one's own petard (alternative) hoisted by one's own petard (alternative)

Phrases

beat someone at their own game he who digs a pit for others falls in himself Leopards Eating Faces Party Leopards Eating People's Faces Party like turkeys voting for Christmas like turkeys voting for an early Christmas on one's own hook own goal

Frequently Paired Words

beat someone at their own game he who digs a pit for others falls in himself Leopards Eating Faces Party Leopards Eating People's Faces Party like turkeys voting for Christmas like turkeys voting for an early Christmas on one's own hook own goal

Questions

What does hoist by one's own petard mean?: Hurt or destroyed by one's own plot or device intended for another; "blown up by one's own bomb".
Where does hoist by one's own petard come from?: From the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, see quotations.

How to pronounce hoist by one's own petard

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