rubber jungle

noun

In a commercial passenger airliner, the dense, forest-like profusion of suspended tubes, straps, bags, and masks which results when large numbers of oxygen masks are deployed.

Meanings

nounrubber jungle (plural rubber jungles)

plural rubber jungles

  1. informalaeronauticsIn a commercial passenger airliner, the dense, forest-like profusion of suspended tubes, straps, bags, and masks which results when large numbers of oxygen masks are deployed.

    By the way, when all the masks are hanging out, it's sometimes referred to as the "rubber jungle."

    2006 May 15, Meryl Getline, “Ask the Captain: When oxygen masks mysteriously appear”, in USAToday.com, retrieved 21 Mar 2014
    2 more examples

    From the day before, an accidental deployment of oxygen masks—a rubber jungle, in airline-speak—was discussed.

    2007 March 18, Jeff Bailey, “After service disruptions, airlines are saying they're sorry”, in New York Times, retrieved 21 Mar 2014

    I looked back to see what was going on, and observed a rubber jungle of oxygen masks hanging from the overhead bins.

    2013, Jim Lewis, Short Tales by a Tall Pilot, →ISBN, page 89
Cite this entry
APA

rubber jungle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rubber%20jungle

MLA

“rubber jungle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rubber%20jungle. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rubber jungle,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rubber%20jungle.

Source: rubber jungle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.