[Judith Anne]

Here’s what I find from google:

“For ‘tis the sport to have the enginer / Hoist with his owne
petar” — Shakespeare, Hamlet III iv. “Hoist” was in Shakespeare’s
time the past participles of a verb “to hoise”, which meant what “to
hoist” does now: to lift. A petard (see under “peter out” for the
etymology) was an explosive charge detonated by a slowly burning
fuse. If the petard went off prematurely, then the sapper (military
engineer; Shakespeare’s “enginer”) who planted it would be hurled
into the air by the explosion. (Compare “up” in “to blow up”.) A
modern rendition might be: “It’s fun to see the engineer blown up
with his own bomb.”

[Judith Anne]

Link:

http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxhoistw.html

[OLD REGGIE]

Here’s what I find from google:

“For ‘tis the sport to have the enginer / Hoist with his owne petar” — Shakespeare, Hamlet III iv. “Hoist” was in Shakespeare’s time the past participles of a verb “to hoise”, which meant what “to hoist” does now: to lift. A petard (see under “peter out” for the etymology) was an explosive charge detonated by a slowly burning fuse. If the petard went off prematurely, then the sapper (military engineer; Shakespeare’s “enginer”) who planted it would be hurled into the air by the explosion. (Compare “up” in “to blow up”.) A modern rendition might be: “It’s fun to see the engineer blown up with his own bomb.”

I like the passing wind better. :-)

I did put the more "correct" definition in tiny font.