trigger word
Britishnoun
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The word “plastic” — the trigger word in the film “The Graduate” — was too temptingly easy even for writers of large reputation.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2023
Amazon says its Alexa products are designed to record as little as possible, starting with the trigger word, “Alexa,” and stopping when the user’s command ends.
From Reuters • Nov. 19, 2021
The hard vowel triggers Theyers’ stutter, and often by the time he’s said the trigger word, the device has stopped listening.
From Slate • Oct. 16, 2018
As far as my own case goes, “duchess” is a dangerous trigger word, causing me to launch into Robert Browning’s poem My Last Duchess with full, hammy Larry Olivier-style hissing and simmering and Oscar-winning declaiming.
From The Guardian • Jun. 8, 2016
“Reproduce” is a trigger word for the Back Row.
From "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.