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Aside from historical references to siege warfare, and occasional contemporary references to fireworks, petard is almost always encountered in variations of the phrase "hoist with one's own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

Recent Examples on the Web Skipping the innumerable tabloid revelations and McGraw’s own petard-hoisting claims while appearing on Fox News, there were headline-making charges of exploitation over interviews with Britney Spears in 2008 and Shelley Duvall in 2016. — Gary Baum, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 Feb. 2022 Apparently, Blake likes to hoist his own petard every day, with some bonus rounds on the weekend. — Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 13 July 2021 Despite that controversy, the FTC’s choice to hoist Facebook by its own petard makes sense. — Rebecca Haw Allensworth, Quartz, 23 Dec. 2020 After five years of continuous resident complaints, some AEC members enjoyed the opportunity to hoist locals by their own petard. — David Reamer, Anchorage Daily News, 15 Nov. 2020 One acts as a petard, blasting through a wall to grant access to the others. — The Economist, 14 Dec. 2017 My biggest worry is that I will be hoisted on my own self-righteous petard. — Lisa Miller, Daily Intelligencer, 29 Oct. 2017 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'petard.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.