Meaning of aluminum shower | Babel Free

Definitions

1. The result of a midair collision of two aircraft.
   figuratively
2. A party or similar event at which aluminum household items are given, as for a wedding.
   literally
3. An event at which people give household items made of aluminum to the war effort.
   dated, figuratively
4. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see aluminum, shower.

Examples

“As his screen displayed the falling and fragmenting wreckage of two aircraft that had collided at 2,650 ft. three miles northeast of Lindbergh Field, he muttered, "Jesus Christ, an aluminum shower."”

“Certainly one of the most stressful jobs in contemporary society is that of the air traffic controller. . . . This pressure, combined with the ever-present fear of causing a crash or collision (known with studied casualness as an "aluminum shower"), places controllers under tremendous stress on the job.”

“John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton play two air-traffic controllers who are prickly and complex. . . . They use cynicism to protect themselves from the terrors of the job. One guy "has an aluminum shower in his future".”

“[W]e must be able to determine when airplanes are too close for comfort.”

“But he agrees that corporate jets are increasing the strain on air traffic controllers trying to prevent what’s known in the industry as an “aluminum shower,” a midair collision.”

“SAC made a big deal about getting everywhere the B-52's flew exactly on time. . . . [I]f you were late and the next aircraft scheduled in was early there was an increased possibility of an aluminum shower.”

“A delightful evening was spent Wednesday, May 27th, when an aluminum shower was given to Miss Alice Strycker at her home, 1907 Baker Street, San Francisco, to celebrate her approaching marriage.”

“The aluminum shower appears to be very popular, but one should ascertain first whether or not the bride-to-be wants aluminum in her kitchen.”

“A lovely kitchen show was given her by her sister, Evelyn Van Dyke, and an aluminum shower by Dorothy Kroone and Alice Parks Messmore. She received many lovely gifts and a good time is reported by all.”

“The Office of Production Management, the OPM, has directed the Office of Civilian Defense to conduct an "Aluminum Shower". In other words, we are to collect all the available old aluminum in order to turn it over to the Government.”

“William S. Knudsen, director-general of O. P. M., has advised General R. B. Rathbun, director of the Minneapolis aluminum shower committee, to leave no possible source of scrap aluminum untouched because of the "critical shortage"”

“Most of you remember the "aluminum shower" which the American housewives gave Uncle Sam about eight months ago. Well, the Office of Emergency Management has been trying to find out what happened to all the pots and pans”

“Five o'clock the next morning found T. B. and myself already in the bathroom. For the whole school of some three hundred boarders, there were only about thirteen open standing aluminum showers and about eight buckets to be used in turns”

“The houses also fashioned a folksy modernity out of new and old materials, including brick, plywood paneling, aluminum showers, and steel windows”

“There was no clubhouse or pool, the bathing facilities were residential utility buildings with toilets and aluminum showers.”

CEFR level