fail-safe
adjective
pertaining to or noting a mechanism built into a system, as in an early warning system or a nuclear reactor, for insuring safety should the system fail to operate properly.
fail-safes
-
present tense formof fail-safe (3rd person singular).present tense
Used to describe things happening now or regularly.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
And because airplanes are packed with fail-safes, there are times when a flight with a malfunctioning system can safely proceed simply by relying on one or more backups instead.
From New York Times ● Jun. 19, 2024
However, discussions of fall-backs and fail-safes have not been welcome in the Wales camp while the possibility of automatic qualification remains.
From BBC ● Nov. 20, 2023
It needs fail-safes that make it easier for factories to restart after being shut.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 17, 2021
Fortunately, though, the new generation of submarines are built with so many levels of redundancy and fail-safes, the chances of anything bad happening are remote.
From Scientific American ● Feb. 12, 2018
An inmate had escaped from the Rikers Island Visit Room that same summer, despite the many fail-safes.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
