emergency cord

American  

[i-mur-juhn-see kawrd] / ɪˈmɜr dʒən si ˈkɔrd /

noun

plural

emergency cords

1. a cord in a public transit vehicle that passengers can pull to alert the driver or stop the vehicle in an emergency.

2. any cord that can be pulled in an extreme or dangerous situation to call for help, disengage a mechanism, or otherwise make a situation safer.

3. a way to get out of or reduce the impact of a difficult situation.

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Example Sentences

Another said: "At birth I wasn't checked for two hours. I went to the toilet and rang the emergency cord - I gave birth in the toilet cubicle."

From BBC

Railway officials said the passengers got down from the Mumbai-bound train in western Maharashtra state after someone pulled the emergency cord, causing it to stop.

From BBC

"If the train manager hadn't seen me crawling off, I would have had to pull the emergency cord and I would have delayed the train going north."

From BBC

Mr Wooderson said that following the fall, Mr Moseley's wife - who uses a wheelchair - called for help on their careline emergency cord.

From BBC

It still takes monthly re-upping, for one thing, and for another, there’s a risk in pulling the emergency cord too much.

From Los Angeles Times