kill switch

noun

plural kill switches

: a mechanism or feature on a mechanical or electronic device that allows one or more functions to be turned off or made unavailable

… mobile apps come with a selection of core VPN tools—including a kill switch that will cut your internet connection if the VPN drops. This prevents you from leaking identifiable data while the VPN reconnects, and is particularly important to anyone who uses their mobile to shop online …

—River Hart

… every mile driven came with a human safety monitor on board, sitting ready with a finger on a kill switch to instantly stop the car if necessary.

—Max McDee

—often used figuratively

… his function as the kill switch for departmental waste and mismanagement …

—Travis Durfee

Examples of kill switch in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Zavery demonstrated the kill switch live on stage. —Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 6 May 2026

Features like an automatic kill switch and leak protection help prevent exposure if the connection drops. —Stackcommerce Team, PC Magazine, 5 May 2026

But the Damascene realization regarding the precariousness of American manufacturing that followed spurred a flurry of activity in Washington—as well as among nations that balked at an authoritarian superpower effectively having a permanent kill switch over their industrial output. —Charlie Campbell, Time, 21 Apr. 2026

Regardless of the existence of any secretive kill switches, the LNA will most likely remain heavily reliant on foreigners to fly its drones. —Paul Iddon, Forbes.com, 7 Apr. 2026

Much more worrisome, how can anyone be sure a kill switch or some other hardware trojan hasn’t been secretly inserted? —IEEE Spectrum, 30 Apr. 2022

Word History

First Known Use

1948, in the meaning defined above