pull the trigger
The phrase "pull the trigger" originates from the action of firing a gun and has evolved into various idiomatic uses.
Definition
B2General
(literal)To fire a gun by pressing the trigger.
Example
- The detective hesitated but eventually pulled the trigger.
B2General
(idiomatic)To make a decisive or irreversible decision.
Example
- After months of consideration, she finally pulled the trigger and started her own business.
B2Soccer
(idiomatic, sports)To kick the ball in an attempt to score a goal.
Example
- The striker pulled the trigger from outside the box, aiming for the top corner.
B2Tennis
(informal, sports)To hit a very powerful shot.
Example
- He waited for the perfect moment to pull the trigger and send the ball flying past his opponent.
Similar
Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "pull the trigger":
pull a leverpull the plugfire offgun forbite the bulletshoot from the hiphit the buttonshoot offjump the guntake aimtrigger lawshoot one's loadpull outfire awaydry firegun offpull timestarting gungun downunder the gunpull backempty the clippull inready, fire, aimlock and loadhold fireshoot backsqueeze offpress buttonpulling the plugshoot a bird