Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A wire stretched near ground level to trip or ensnare an enemy.
- n. A wire or line that activates a weapon, trap, or camera, for example, when pulled.
- n. A small military force whose involvement in hostilities will trigger the use of a larger force.
Wiktionary
Etymologies
- trip + wire (Wiktionary)
Examples
“The 82nd was variously called a tripwire, or, more cynically, a "speed bump", as a paratroop division could not have directly fought Iraqi armored units.”
“No mention that the "tripwire" came when Limbaugh said he hoped Obama fails, four days before Obama was inaugurated.”
“The GIs understood their role: If the North Koreans ever came south again, they would be the tripwire Washington would need to intervene and send for help--"tripwire" being a term Gen. LaPorte rejected when I asked him to describe their role.”
“Explain to them what a "tripwire" setup is, how they download, install, configure and monitor it, what”
“Because the government is concerned about the "tripwire" effect as well as the reaction in the markets in the event that Citigroup and / or Bank of America were to collapse.”
“They are frightened about the "tripwire" effect because they are desperately trying NOT to tell the people how dire the situation really is and how close to global economic collapse we really are.”
“Schwarzkopf described the phases of commitment: immediate: U.S. "tripwire" presence of a 4,000 soldier”
“We've spent our whole lives on the 'tripwire' and continue to do so.”
“Also, is anyone else concerned about the "tripwire" idea in regards to purchasing ammo?”
““My job, in some ways, was to serve as a kind of tripwire for the White House,” he says.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘tripwire’.
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Words For Novel (Part 2)
fable, sprite, syphilitic, anvil, wonderstruck, vertigo, bridled, tufted, fettered, savvy, tweed fedora, tryst and 255 more...
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Time for a new list!
abrupt, erupt, rupture, sync, appropinquity, heterochromia, homochromatic, monochromatic, willy nilly, nitty gritty, kowtow, wonton and 455 more...
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Vocab++
Words as I learn them.
fetid, mezzanine, hiatus, austerity, subliminal, resplendent, implacable, impugn, debase, exiguous, cirque, holster and 2538 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, T
torquate, thalassocracy, toothsome, travois, tempestuous, tone, tincture, tripwire, tether, trill, tenacious, travesty and 355 more...
Tweets
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