tripwire
2
6.8
- noun
- /ˈtrɪpˌwaɪər/
- Such defensive arrangements need not require a sizeable U.S. military presence to be kept in the area for the long run, but they certainly must be based on regional and UN forces acting as effective tripwires.
- tripwire forces
Examples
-
These forces served not only as a tripwire to deter aggression by Pyongyang but also as a tangible demonstration to Seoul of American commitment.
Academic text (1999) -
Perhaps the last act of this drama was the creation of a U.S. Rapid Deployment Force in the early 1980s to serve as a tripwire if Soviet forces invaded Iran.
Academic text (1990) -
That strategy was itself a tripwire, politically modulated to respond to encroachments of unacceptable magnitude.
Academic text (1998) -
Foreign donor reaction was the tripwire that forced Moi to dismantle the one-party state.
Academic text (1992) -
The newer and geographically peripheral members of this core of nations become a sort of tripwire alerting the democratic world to an actively anti-democratic threat emerging among those areas and nations that remain non-democratic.
Academic text (1994) -
The unexpected announcement served as a tripwire that ignited protests across the country.
-
The new policy change was a tripwire for many employees, leading to widespread dissatisfaction.
-
The sudden drop in stock prices acted as a tripwire, prompting investors to sell their shares immediately.
Synonyms
153
3.4
An event or action that makes other things happen
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Tripwire comes from the image of a thin wire that 'trips' a device when it is touched, and people use the word for events too: a small action can act as a tripwire that sets off a much larger reaction. So a tripwire here means a small trigger that causes a big result.