tripwire
5
5.6
- noun
- /ˈtrɪpˌwaɪər/
- Starling follows the tripwire down, parallel to the fence.
- triggered by tripwires
- string tripwires
- hit the tripwire
Examples
-
And we've been lacing the ground with tripwires and land mines.
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You can see tripwires out in front.
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About here will be a tripwire for this sliding door.
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There are tripwires on every tree for 50 yards.
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We set up two tripwire barricades around the Paramount Theatre.
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A small tripwire, suspended six inches off the ground, covers the area in front of the so-attractive tree.
Fiction book (2001) -
She steps over the tripwire and proceeds down, watching the fence, looking intently.
Fiction book (2001) -
I laid out tripwires, flares, a couple of claymores.
-
He had God knows what: alarms, electric eyes, tripwires.
Fiction book (1997) -
The security team installed a tripwire across the entrance to alert them of any intruders.
Synonyms
11
6.1
A low wire that makes a trap, alarm, or camera go off when someone walks into it
1
9.9
A device that automatically stops a machine by opening a switch
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Tripwire comes from joining trip ('to make someone fall') and wire (a thin metal string); it was first a thin wire meant to be touched or walked into and to set off an alarm. So a tripwire is literally a wire that will 'trip' you and give a warning.