Hoist with your own petard
Suggest a CorrectionMeaning
Harmed or defeated by the very scheme or device intended to harm another. Hoist is Shakespeare's past participle. Both with and by occur today, though with is closer to the source. Regional use: Origin in English drama; now international educated English.
Origin
Hamlet, written around 1600-01, imagines an engineer 'hoist with his own petard'. A petard was a small explosive charge used to breach gates or walls, and hoist here means blown or lifted up by the blast. Modern 'hoisted by' is understandable but alters Shakespeare's grammar; the expression's force lies in a plot recoiling on its designer.
Research Sources
Variants
- Hoist by your own petard
- Hoisted with your own petard
- Hoist with his own petard
Usage Examples
- The fraudster was hoist with his own petard when the forged timestamp disproved his story.
- By publishing the secret rules, the club was hoist with its own petard.
- Her attempt to embarrass the witness left her hoisted by her own petard.