trigger

From Wiktionary
trigger is on the Academic Word List.

Pronunciation[change]

Noun[change]

Singular
trigger

Plural
triggers

  1. A trigger is the part of a gun that you push with one finger when you want to make the gun shoot.
    I didn't want to make him angry, because he had his finger on the trigger.
  2. A trigger is a little thing that makes something bigger happen.
    Bad smells are one of the triggers for my headaches.

Verb[change]

Plain form
trigger

Third-person singular
triggers

Past tense
triggered

Past participle
triggered

Present participle
triggering

  1. A little thing triggers a big thing to happen when it causes it.
    Those angry words triggered the beginning of the war.