hoist by/with (one's) own petard
(redirected from hoisted by our own petards)
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hoist by/with (one's) own petard
To be injured, ruined, or defeated by one's own action, device, or plot that was intended to harm another; to have fallen victim to one's own trap or schemes. ("Hoist" in this instance is the past participle of the archaic form of the verb "hoise.") 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.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
hoist with one's own petard
Fig. to be harmed or disadvantaged by an action of one's own which was meant to harm someone else. (From a line in Shakespeare's Hamlet.) She intended to murder her brother but was hoist with her own petard when she ate the poisoned food intended for him. The vandals were hoist with their own petard when they tried to make an emergency call from the pay phone they had broken.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
hoist by your own petard
orhoist with your own petard
FORMALIf someone is hoist by their own petard or is hoist with their own petard, something they do to get an advantage or to harm someone else results in harm to themselves. You should stop spreading stories about your opponents or, sooner or later, you will be hoist with your own petard. Note: `Petards' were metal balls filled with gunpowder which were used to blow up walls or gates. The gunpowder was lit by a slow-burning fuse, but there was always a danger that the device would explode too soon and `hoist' the person lighting it, that is, blow them up in the air.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
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’.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
be hoist/hoisted by/with your own peˈtard
(British English) be caught in the trap that you were preparing for another personThis is from Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. A petard was a small bomb.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
hoist by your own petard
Hurt by your own misdeed. A petard was a medieval bomb made of a container of gunpowder with a fuse, and to blow open gates during sieges against towns and fortresses. Unreliable, petards often exploded prematurely and sent the person who lit the fuse aloft (the “hoist” image) in one or more pieces. The phrase, which is often misquoted as “hoist on one's own petard,” comes from Hamlet:
For 'tis the sport to have the engineer
Hoist with his own petard; and ‘t shall go hard
But I will delve one yard below their mines
And blow them at the moon . . .
Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price Copyright © 2011 by Steven D. Price