petard
noun
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Where does the phrase hoist with one's own petard come from?
Aside from historical references to siege warfare, and occasional contemporary references to fireworks, petard is almost always encountered in variations of the phrase "hoist with one's own petard," meaning "victimized or hurt by one's own scheme." The phrase comes from William Shakespeare's Hamlet: "For 'tis the sport to have the enginer / Hoist with his own petar." Hoist in this case is the past participle of the verb hoise, meaning "to lift or raise," and petar(d) refers to an explosive device used in siege warfare. Hamlet uses the example of the engineer (the person who sets the explosive device) being blown into the air by his own device as a metaphor for those who schemed against him being undone by their own schemes. The phrase has endured, even if its literal meaning has largely been forgotten.
Examples of petard in a Sentence
John Werner, Forbes.com, 21 July 2025
Still, Cromer’s ace here was to operate on twin tracks: To recreate with precision how Murrow and his team turned Eugene McCarthy’s prosecutorial tactics back on the prosecutor himself and hung him on his own petard, but also to explicitly look forward to the media disintegration that followed.
—Chris Jones, New York Daily News, 4 Apr. 2025
The big box store was hoisted on its own petard, some would say, with a bigger box, Sports Basement, taking over its location.
—Sal Pizarro, The Mercury News, 17 Jan. 2025
As the accidental spokesperson for politically conscious casting, he’d rather not be hoisted on his own petard.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 10 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for petard
Cite this Entry
“Petard.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/petard. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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