English Explanatory Dictionary

molly-guard

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A physical barrier to protect something from unwanted contact, especially a shield to prevent accidental tripping of an emergency shutdown or power switch.

Pronunciation

/ˈmɒli ɡɑːd/ /ˈmɑli ɡɑɹd/

Word forms

molly-guard molly-guards

Etymology

From Molly (female given name) + guard. Originally a Plexiglas cover improvised for the Big Red Switch on an IBM 4341 mainframe after a programmer's toddler daughter (named Molly) tripped it twice in one day. Later generalised to covers over stop/reset switches on disk drives and networking equipment.

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