petard

petard [pi-tahrd] Word Origin noun

1. an explosive device formerly used in warfare to blow in a door or gate, form a breach in a wall, etc.
2. a kind of firecracker.
3. (initial capital letter) Also called Flying Dustbin. a British spigot mortar of World War II that fired a 40-pound (18 kg) finned bomb, designed to destroy pillboxes and other concrete obstacles.

Idioms

4. hoist by/with one’s own petard, hurt, ruined, or destroyed by the very device or plot one had intended for another.

Origin of petard 1590–1600; Middle French, equivalent to pet(er) to break wind (derivative of pet Latin pēditum a breaking wind, orig. neuter of past participle of pēdere to break wind) + -ard -ard British Dictionary definitions for hoist by one’s own petard petard noun

1. (formerly) a device containing explosives used to breach a wall, doors, etc
2. hoist with one’s own petard being the victim of one’s own schemes
3. a type of explosive firework

Word Origin for petard C16: from French: firework, from péter to break wind, from Latin pēdere Word Origin and History for hoist by one’s own petard petard n.

1590s, “small bomb used to blow in doors and breach walls,” from French pétard (late 16c.), from Middle French péter “break wind,” from Old French pet “a fart,” from Latin peditum, noun use of neuter past participle of pedere “to break wind,” from PIE root *pezd- “to fart” (see feisty). Surviving in phrase hoist with one’s own petard (or some variant) “blown up with one’s own bomb,” which is ultimately from Shakespeare (1605):

For tis the sport to haue the enginer Hoist with his owne petar (“Hamlet” III.iv.207).

See hoist.

hoist by one’s own petard in Culture hoist by one’s own petard [(pi-tahrd)]

To be caught in one’s own trap: “The swindler cheated himself out of most of his money, and his victims were satisfied to see him hoist by his own petard.” A “petard” was an explosive device used in medieval warfare. To be hoisted, or lifted, by a petard literally means to be blown up.