Definition: Safety
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English savete, from Old French sauveté, from earlier salvetet, from Medieval Latin salvitÄs, salvitÄtem, from Latin salvus.
Noun
safety (countable and uncountable, plural safeties)
- The condition or feeling of being safe; security; certainty.
- If you push it to the limit, safety is not guaranteed.
- He managed to reach the border and escape to safety.
- (mechanics) A safety lock or safety catch: a mechanism on a weapon or dangerous equipment designed to prevent accidental firing or operation.
- Be sure that the safety is set before proceeding.
- Preservation from escape; close custody.
- (sports)
- (American football) An instance of a player being sacked or tackled in the end zone, or stepping out of the end zone and off the field, resulting in two points to the opposite team.
- He sacked the quarterback in the end zone for a safety.
- (American football) Any of the defensive players who are in position furthest from the line of scrimmage and whose responsibility is to defend against passes as well as to be the tacklers of last resort.
- The free safety made a game-saving tackle on the runner who had broken past the linebackers.
- (baseball) A safety squeeze.
- (snooker) A safety shot or sequence of such shots.
- That was a poor safety from Higgins.
- After thirty minutes of safety, Selby finally potted a red, to ironic cheers.
- (American football) An instance of a player being sacked or tackled in the end zone, or stepping out of the end zone and off the field, resulting in two points to the opposite team.
Derived terms
- biosafety
- cybersafety
- fire safety
- health and safety
- safety belt
- safety bicycle
- safety boot
- safety-deposit box
- safety factor
- safety first
- safety helmet
- safety lock
- safety mechanism
- safety net
- safety pin
- safety seat
- safety squeeze
- safety valve
Related terms
- safe
Verb
safety (third-person singular simple present safeties, present participle safetying, simple past and past participle safetied)
- (transitive) To secure (a mechanical component, as in aviation) to keep it from becoming detached even under vibration.
- To secure a firing pin, as in guns, to keep the gun from firing.
Credits
New World Encyclopedia writers and editors copied and adjusted this Wiktionary entry in accordance with NWE standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit for this article is due to both New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions at Wiktionary is accessible to researchers here:
