dead man's handle
dead man's handle noun: a lever used as a safety device, typically on trains, which shuts off power if the operator releases their grip.
Noun
dead man's handle (plural dead man's handles)
- A lever used as a safety device, typically on trains, which shuts off power if the operator releases their grip.
- Dead-man's handle, automatic train stop, quick-acting compressed-air brake specially suited for high-speed working, and regenerative braking are among the features of the new locomotives.1947 March and April, “Swiss High-Speed Electric Locomotives”, in Railway Magazine, page 94
- There were two engine men in case one of them fainted or died, the 'dead man's handle' of the later Tubes (a fail-safe device that stops the train if the driver does not maintain manual pressure on a lever) not having been perfected.2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, pages 103–104
Forms of dead man's handle
| plural | dead man's handles |
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Questions about dead man's handle
- What does dead man's handle mean?
- Dead man's handle means a lever used as a safety device, typically on trains, which shuts off power if the operator releases their grip.
- What part of speech is dead man's handle?
- Dead man's handle is a noun.
- What is the plural of dead man's handle?
- The plural of dead man's handle is dead man's handles.
Words near dead man's handle in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: dead man's handle (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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