three-finger salute

noun

Control-Alt-Delete, a keypress used to reset or interrupt the computer.

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Meanings

nounthree-finger salute (plural three-finger salutes)

plural three-finger salutes

  1. humorouscomputingControl-Alt-Delete, a keypress used to reset or interrupt the computer.
    1 more example

    THE THREE-FINGER SALUTE … to suddenly find that your keyboard is frozen or to watching the screen fill up with garbage. You may not even be aware of the two different types of crashes, the soft crash (recoverable by the three-finger salute, Ctrl-Alt-Del) or the hard crash (big red switch and count to 5 slowly).

    1986, February 25, Charles Petzold, PC Magazine, volume 5, number 4, article "Operating in a New Environment"
Cite this entry
APA

three-finger salute. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/three-finger%20salute

MLA

“three-finger salute.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/three-finger%20salute. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “three-finger salute,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/three-finger%20salute.

Source: three-finger salute on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.