Jul 17, 2020 · The OED offers several different senses of this word in its entry for ‘petard’, but the earliest and chief meaning is: ‘A small bomb made of a metal or wooden box filled with …

Aside from historical references to siege warfare, and occasional contemporary references to fireworks, petard is almost always encountered in variations of the phrase " hoist with one's …

Literally, the phrase means a bomb-maker was blown off the ground (hoist) by his own bomb (petard). It commonly refers to an ironic reversal in which one is taken down by one's own …

Hoist is the past participle of hoise, an earlier form of the verb hoist, "to be lifted up," while a petar or petard is a small bomb used in early modern warfare. The phrase "hoist with his own …

It is farcical that any industry should be put into a situation in which it is hoist by its own petard as sales rise.

3 senses: 1. (formerly) a device containing explosives used to breach a wall, doors, etc 2. → See hoist with one's own petard.... Click for more definitions.

PETARD definition: an explosive device formerly used in warfare to blow in a door or gate, form a breach in a wall, etc. See examples of petard used in a sentence.

There are four meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun petard, one of which is labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

Definition of petard noun in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.

Idioms hoist by or with one's own petard, caught by the very device one had planned to use to hurt another: The candidate was hoist by his own petard when, after he made claims about his …