hoist with your own petard

Like this video? Subscribe to our free daily email and get a new idiom video every day!

hoist by/with (one's) own petard

Injured, ruined, or defeated by one's own action, device, or plot that was intended to harm another; having fallen victim to one's own trap or schemes. ("Hoist" in this instance is the past participle of the archaic verb "hoise," meaning to be raised or lifted up. A "petard" was a bell-shaped explosive used to breach walls, doors, and so on.) I tried to get my boss fired by planting drugs on him, but I was hoist by my own petard when the police caught me with them beforehand. The senator continually called on authorities to investigate her political opponent's alleged tax evasion. Now it seems as though she may end her political career hoist with her own petard, as federal agents indicted her for tax fraud on Monday.

hoist with (or by) your own petard

have your plans to cause trouble for others backfire on you.

The phrase is from Shakespeare's Hamlet: ‘For 'tis the sport to have the enginer Hoist with his own petard’. In former times, a petard was a small bomb made of a metal or wooden box filled with explosive powder, while hoist here is the past participle of the dialect verb hoise , meaning ‘lift or remove’.