musical chairsn.
/ˌmjuːzᵻkl ˈtʃɛːz/, U.S. /ˈˌmjuzək(ə)l ˈtʃɛ(ə)rz/ 1.
a. A party game in which a number of players compete for a decreasing number of chairs by walking around them while music is played, the losers in each round being those who fail to find a seat when the music stops.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > parlour and party games > [noun] > musical bumps or chairs
musical fright1871
musical chairs1877
musical arms1924
musical bumps1932
cakewalk1940
1877 Cassell's Family Mag. Dec. 41/1 When there is a piano, ‘Musical Chairs’ played in the usual way..is quite as interesting.
1916 ‘Peter’ Trench Yarns 25 We had to get the men through the danger zone by a sort of musical-chairs rush. They came slowly up to the entrance, and then dashed in and round the corner into safety behind the bricks.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses ii. xi. [Sirens] 264 Musical chairs. We two the last... Round and round slow... Halt. Down she sat.
1955 Picture Post 14 May 10/3 This programme concludes with a gay, exciting parlour variation on musical chairs, in which the panellists exchange faces.
1984 A. Thomas Intertidal Life i. 51 Afterward there are games. Musical chairs (someone must always be left out, that's the point of the thing).
b. An outdoor game on the same principle, played on horseback.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > equestrian sports except racing > [noun] > other competitions
ringa1513
goose-riding1785
tent-pegging1878
lemon-cutting1889
musical chairs1933
1933 A. Blewitt Ponies & Children viii. 121 Musical Chairs—the posts are stuck in a small circle, one less than the number of competitors, who have to canter in a wide circle, led by a grown-up on horseback.
1939 R. S. Summerhays Riding for All xiv. 87 The almost inevitable event at all gymkhanas is musical chairs.
2. figurative. A situation in which a number of people continually change or exchange positions or roles, esp. with the threat of individuals being excluded at some point.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > exchange > [noun] > instance of
achange1530
chopping and changing1548
swap1625
shuffle1641
general post1879
musical chairs1958
1958 Visct. Montgomery Mem. (1961) 39 They remained in office far too long, playing musical chairs with the top jobs but never taking a chair away when the music stopped.
1973 E. Page Fortnight by Sea v. 52 How rapidly the years slipped by, with what speed the game of musical chairs was played, how swiftly one was forced out of one role and into another.
1987 J. Franklin Molecules of Mind (1988) xviii. 241 From the very first, love was a game of musical chairs.
1998 Classic Cars Apr. 98/2 [British Leyland] management played musical chairs with the design teams, putting Harry Webster in charge of Austin Morris, and Spen King from Rover in charge of Triumph.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1877