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push the panic button

Slang Dictionary

hit the panic button definition

and press the panic button; push the panic button

tv.
to panic. : She hit the panic button and just went to pieces. , Don't press the panic button until you think it through.

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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The Saturday Center www.saturdaycenter.org/ High-quality, affordable psychotherapy on the Westside

American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

push the panic button

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.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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