Dictionary

dead man's handle en · NOUN

Meanings

1. A lever used as a safety device, typically on trains, which shuts off power if the operator releases their grip.
   • 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:
   • 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:

Forms

Hypernyms

dead man's switch

Translations (2)

fr VACMA (safety device on trains — see also dead man's switch) · fr homme-mort (safety device on trains — see also dead man's switch)