- (formerly) a device containing explosives used to breach a wall, doors, etc
- hoist with one's own petard ⇒ being the victim of one's own schemes
- a type of explosive firework
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
pe•tard /pɪˈtɑrd/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Militaryan explosive device once used in warfare.
- Idioms hoist by or with one's own petard, caught by the very device one had planned to use to hurt another:The candidate was hoist by his own petard when, after he made claims about his opponent's shady finances, his own tax returns showed irregularities.
pe•tard
(pi tärd′),USA pronunciation n.
- Militaryan explosive device formerly used in warfare to blow in a door or gate, form a breach in a wall, etc.
- a kind of firecracker.
- Military(cap.) Also called Flying Dustbin. a British spigot mortar of World War II that fired a 40-pound (18 kg) finned bomb, designed to destroy pillboxes and other concrete obstacles.
- Idioms hoist by or with one's own petard, hurt, ruined, or destroyed by the very device or plot one had intended for another.
- Latin pēditum a breaking wind, origin, originally neuter of past participle of pēdere to break wind) + -ard -ard
- Middle French, equivalent. to pet(er) to break wind (derivative of pet
- 1590–1600
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
petard /pɪˈtɑːd/ n
'petard' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):