press the panic button

verb

To start to panic.

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Meanings

verbpress the panic button (third-person singular simple present presses the panic button, present participle pressing the panic button, simple past and past participle pressed the panic button)

present singular third person presses the panic button · participle present pressing the panic button · participle past pressed the panic button · past pressed the panic button

  1. idiomaticTo start to panic.
Cite this entry
APA

press the panic button. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/press%20the%20panic%20button

MLA

“press the panic button.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/press%20the%20panic%20button. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “press the panic button,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/press%20the%20panic%20button.

Source: press the panic button on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.