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View synonyms for panic button

panic button

noun

  1. an alarm button for use in an emergency, as to summon help.


panic button

noun

  1. a button or switch that operates any of various safety devices, for use in an emergency
  2. hit the panic button or press the panic button informal.
    to react to a situation by demanding emergency action; become excited; panic
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Word History and Origins

Origin of panic button1

Allegedly first used in reference to emergency bell systems on World War II bombers such as the B-17 and B-24
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. push / hit / press the panic button, Informal. to give way to panic in a distressing situation.
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Example Sentences

A Missouri medical center has distributed panic buttons to about 400 employees after an increase in assaults on health care workers by people frustrated over coronavirus-induced visitation restrictions and long wait times.

In response to the violence, up to 400 staff members will soon have panic buttons attached to their badges, the hospital said.

When pressed, the panic buttons will immediately alert hospital security and trigger a tracking system to locate the endangered worker.

In a hospital in Branson, Missouri, as many as 400 staff members will have panic buttons added to their identification badges after assaults on staff members tripled amid the pandemic.

A hospital in Springfield, Missouri, added security dogs, as well as panic buttons.

Four factors have stopped Democrats from pushing the panic button: 1.

My peers, colleagues, and friends in the financial-political-punditocracy rushed to hit the panic button and assign blame.

Otherwise “Republicans going to hit the panic button” and start pouring their money into saving congressional seats.

Now, you listen carefully: If you push the panic button on this one without cause, I will personally flay you alive.

Chow thought some Martian monsters were invading us, and sort of pushed the panic button.

"I certainly pushed the panic button on that young man," he said.

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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.

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