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chicken switch

American  
[chik-uhn swich] / ˈtʃɪk ən ˌswɪtʃ /

noun

Rocketry Slang.

  1. a device by which an astronaut may eject the capsule in which they ride, in the event that a rocket malfunctions.

  2. egads button.

Etymology

Origin of chicken switch

First recorded in 1955–60; chicken ( def. ) (in the sense “fearful person”) + switch ( def. )

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.