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Chinese fire drill

American  

noun

Slang: Usually Offensive.

  1. a state of chaotic, often clamorous disorder.

Sensitive Note

See Chinese.

Etymology

Origin of Chinese fire drill

Probably earlier than 1960–65

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.