Dictionary — ontologydriven

hair-trigger en · ADJ

From hair + trigger.

(not-comparable) Unstable; in a situation that could be worsened by the slightest mistake.
(not-comparable) Easily angered; having a short temper.
- "Gus," the latter began, "am I right in assuming that you possess a reasonable amount of influence with that hair-trigger partner of yours, Live Wire Luiz?" 1922, Peter B. Kyne, Cappy Rick Retires, page 339:
- [I]n the 575 days since [Oscar] Pistorius shot dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, there has been an unseemly scramble to construct revisionist histories, to identify evidence beneath that placid exterior of a pugnacious, hair-trigger personality. 2014 October 21, Oliver Brown, “Oscar Pistorius jailed for five years – sport afforded no protection against his tragic fallibilities: Bladerunner's punishment for killing Reeva Steenkamp is but a frippery when set against the burden that her bereft parents, June and Barry, must carry [print version: No room for sentimentality in this tragedy, 13 September 2014, p. S22]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Sport):

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
hair trigger		alternative	lexicographic

From hair + trigger.

A trigger that will set off a firearm when even a very small pressure is applied.
- Is your laugh hung on a hair-trigger?—that is, is it critical, or can you get it off easy? 1870–1871 (date written), Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], “”, in Roughing It, Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company [et al.], published 1872, →OCLC, page 560:
- […]the hunter brings the sight of his rifle to bear; lightly and delicately his finger presses upon the hair-trigger. 1847, Francis Parkman, The Oregon Trail:

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
hair trigger		alternative	lexicographic
hair-triggers	Number=Plur		lexicographic

bg мек спусък (gun mechanism) · ru шне́ллер (gun mechanism) · es gatillo de pleo (gun mechanism)