panic button

plural panic buttons

1. An emergency button which, when pressed, alerts authorities of danger or triggers an alarm system.

   Officials in India hope to combat the threat of sexual violence against women and girls by requiring panic buttons to be installed in every new phone by January, and for every phone to be equipped with GPS by 2018.

   2016 May 9, Katie Rogers, “India’s Answer to Sex Attacks? Panic Buttons and GPS on All Phones”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

2. computingSynonym of boss key.

   To enable the panic button you’ll need to toggle the “early bird” option in the settings of the Opera GX browser.

   2023 December 14, Tom Warren, “Opera’s gamer browser now has a “panic button” for when you’re caught in the act”, in The Verge, retrieved 16 Dec 2023

   Synonyms: boss key