Noun
A cord or wire arranged so that when snagged or pulled by an intruder, it will trigger a detector or trap or a device, such as a land mine.
- Examples
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Seeing the tripwire of a nearby bouncing Betty gave us cold chills, and we moved all the more slowly through the woods.
They watched the two ghost-hunters run own the corridor and go crashing over the trip-wire.
More examples (1)
Thirteen people were injured in August 1957 when this Bristol freighter skidded on the runway at Southend Airport when landing with a flight from Calais. It ploughed through the boundary fence, but thankfully stopped short of the railway and the 1,500V overhead wires. A tripwire was installed on this section of Shenfield-Southend line to warn train drivers of instances such as this.
Any means of detecting intruders or attackers.
Usage- Figurative
- Examples
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The continued presence of U.S. troops as a tripwire force in Macedonia is an increasingly risky venture.
Verb
To set a tripwire mechanism in (a location).
Usage- Transitive