ejection seat

American  

noun

1. an airplane seat that can be ejected with the pilot in an emergency.

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ejection seat British  

noun

1. a seat, esp as fitted to military aircraft, that is fired by a cartridge or rocket to eject the occupant from the aircraft in an emergency

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Etymology

Origin of ejection seat

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ejection seat

The Hawker Hunter, a British-designed Cold War-era fighter jet, is equipped with a Martin-Baker ejection seat that allows the pilot to blast out of the cockpit in an emergency.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026

The Phantom’s front landing collapsed, piercing the floorboard under the cockpit and rupturing the charge on his ejection seat.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

Investigators identified ejection seat failure as a partial cause of an F-16 crash that killed 1st Lt.

From Seattle Times ● May 14, 2024

Defense Department officials said that all F-35 ejection seats were inspected after the Air Force in July 22 temporarily grounded its F-35 fleet over ejection seat concerns.

From Washington Times ● Sep. 26, 2023

An ejection seat is simply the aluminum seat the pilot sits in, with a small rocket motor built into the back of it.

From "Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut's Story" by Michael Collins