musical chairs
Americannoun
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Also called going to Jerusalem. a game in which players march to music around two rows of chairs placed back to back, there being one chair less than the number of players, the object being to find a seat when the music stops abruptly. The player failing to do so is removed from the game, together with one chair, at each interval.
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Informal. a situation or series of events in which jobs, decisions, prospects, etc., are changed with confusing rapidity.
noun
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a party game in which players walk around chairs while music is played, there being one fewer chair than players. Whenever the music stops, the player who fails to find a chair is eliminated
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any situation involving a number of people in a series of interrelated changes
Etymology
Origin of musical chairs
First recorded in 1875–80
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Behind the scenes, there have been some musical chairs as well.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 27, 2025
What started as musical chairs is beginning to sound like a sad trombone.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 4, 2025
The big names are losing market share, their creative director roles now a musical chairs game of a handful of people trading jobs.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 15, 2025
The musical chairs look set to continue, which might sound pleasing to the ears of Celtic’s front three.
From BBC • Oct. 1, 2024
When we played musical chairs, I couldn’t tell when the music stopped.
From "Hello, Universe" by Erin Entrada Kelly
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
