push the panic button

Idioms

Also, press the panic button. Overreact to a situation, as in Don't worry; Jane is always pushing the panic button, but I'm sure the baby's fine. This term originated during World War II, when certain bombers had a bell-warning system so that the crew could bail out if the plane was severely hit. Occasionally a pilot would push the button in error, when there was only minor damage, causing the crew to bail out unnecessarily. By 1950 the expression had been transferred to other kinds of overreaction.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

push the panic button

The funny thing is, there was really no need for the committee to push the panic button and bury Cincinnati yet.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 3, 2021

At that point, in this space, I wrote that it was time to push the panic button.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2018

We played well in both of those games, and I think that was one of the reasons we didn’t push the panic button in the Super Bowl.

From Washington Times ● Feb. 5, 2017

I am not trying to push the panic button here.

From Forbes ● Oct. 15, 2014

I'm taking small steps and trying not to push the panic button.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 21, 2011

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023