retrigger

Retrigger is a term used to describe the action of causing a process, event, or signal to occur again after it has already been triggered. It is used across several technical domains to indicate that an input or stimulus can restart or extend an ongoing effect rather than finishing before a new trigger occurs.

In electronics, retriggerable devices are circuits in which a trigger input can restart an ongoing timing interval or output pulse. A retriggerable monostable multivibrator, for example, produces a single output pulse of fixed duration, but a new trigger received during the pulse can extend the pulse by restarting the timing interval. By contrast, non-retriggerable devices ignore triggers that arrive while the output is active. Retriggering behavior is important in timer designs, debouncing, and pulse-width control.

In digital systems and software, retriggering refers to re-arming or re-firing a timer, alarm, or event handler when new input arrives. This is common in time-based state machines, watchdog timers, and event-driven architectures, where a fresh trigger postpones the next action or resets the timing window.

In music production and sound synthesis, retriggering can mean restarting a sample playback, envelope, or LFO at the beginning of the attack phase when a new note or articulation occurs, ensuring that each event begins from the same starting point.