Top Pages
Home
A-Z Glossary
Punctuation
A-Z Confused Words
Common Mistakes
(ordered by seriousness) Top Tip
Get a grammar checker
for your browser ESL Vocabulary Lists Parts of Speech Lists Tests and Games Awkward Plurals Sayings and Proverbs Twitter YouTube
(ordered by seriousness) Top Tip
Get a grammar checker
for your browser ESL Vocabulary Lists Parts of Speech Lists Tests and Games Awkward Plurals Sayings and Proverbs Twitter YouTube
Hoisted by One's Own Petard (Origin)
What Is the Origin of the Saying "Hoisted by One's Own Petard "?
The term hoisted by one's own petard means to fall foul of your own deceit or fall into your own trap. This term has its origin in medieval times when a military commander would send forward one of his engineers with a cast-iron container full of gunpowder, called a petard, to blow up a castle gate, obstacle, or bridge. The fuses on these bombs were very unreliable, and sometimes the engineers would be killed when the petards exploded prematurely. The explosion would blow (or hoist) the engineer into the air.
Previous and Next Sayings
Test Your Knowledge of English Proverbs and Idioms
Ready for the Test?
More Proverbs, Sayings, and Idioms
Help Us Improve Grammar Monster
- Do you disagree with something on this page?
- Did you spot a typo?
Find Us Quicker!
- When using a search engine (e.g., Google, Bing), you will find Grammar Monster quicker if you add #gm to your search term.
Next lesson >