ejection seat

American  

noun

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

---

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

---

Etymology

Origin of ejection seat

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

Click the trigger and the BlackFly noses down, bringing the pilot to a position more like a gaming chair than an ejection seat.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 17, 2025

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

Over the years, the F-35 has suffered all sorts of problems, including glitches in its $400,000 helmet, ejection seat and engine.

From Washington Post • Mar. 24, 2016

It carried enough fuel to stay up for three hours, but its ejection seat was very uncomfortable and my backside got numb long before two hours had passed.

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