Definition
A trigger is the small release that sets a much larger event in motion — and to trigger is to set it off. The word began with the catch of a gun, the little lever whose pull frees a stored force, and it keeps that shape: a tiny cause, a disproportionate effect. A single email can trigger a crisis; a smell can trigger a flood of memory. The point is leverage in time — the trigger does almost no work itself; it merely removes whatever was holding the real force back.
Examples
- A sharp drop in one market can trigger panic selling across the world.
- The new policy triggered a wave of protest the government had failed to anticipate.
- Certain smells can trigger memories so vivid they feel like time travel.
Collocations
trigger a response·trigger an alarm·trigger a chain reaction·a trigger for·trigger memories
Synonyms
spark·set off·provoke·prompt·catalyst
Antonyms
Word family
triggered (adjective)·triggering (adjective)
In TOEFL & IELTS
Common but precise — in TOEFL science lectures one event triggers another (a stimulus triggers a reaction); in IELTS essays a cause triggers a consequence. As a noun, 'a trigger for' names a precise cause. It pairs with response, reaction, alarm, memory, and chain reaction. Tighter than 'cause' when you mean the immediate spark rather than the deep reason.