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Glite Dictionary
gun trigger

gun trigger

3.2
A small part on a gun that you pull to make it shoot
  • noun
  • /ɡʌn ˈtrɪɡər/
translation icon : gatillo
  • Before shooting, he took a deep breath and gently squeezed the gun trigger to fire the weapon.

Examples

  • Replacing the gun trigger improved the firearm's responsiveness and accuracy.

  • His finger fumbles for the gun trigger, but before he gets to it, Sissy's thumb splats between his eyes.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • The officer demonstrated how to properly pull the gun trigger without jerking the weapon.

Synonyms

trigger
vsgun trigger
388 3.9

A small lever you press or pull to make a gun fire

is the specific small lever on a firearm used to discharge it
hair trigger
vsgun trigger
  • Specialized
5 7.8

A small gun part that makes it fire with a very light touch

requires a firmer pull rather than very slight pressure to fire

How Sensitive

hair trigger
  • Specialized
5 7.8
gun trigger
3.2

Surface Forms

gun trigger singular
gun triggers plural

Morphology

gun + trigger

The meaning is directly compositional: combining 'gun' (a firearm) and 'trigger' (a small lever you pull) yields the lever on a gun that discharges it. This noun-noun compound follows a common, cross-linguistic pattern and contains no idiomatic shift, so a B1 learner who knows both words will understand it.

Etymology

Gun trigger comes from the small lever you pull on a gun — the trigger — to make it fire. So, it means 'the small lever on a gun that is pulled to make the gun fire'.