safe as houses

Idioms  

1. Totally secure, as in If you buy Treasury bonds, your money will be safe as houses but you won't get a large return. In today's security-conscious climate, where alarm systems to deter housebreaks have become increasingly common, this simile may seem puzzling. Presumably it uses house in the sense of “a shelter from the elements.” [Late 1800s]

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Example Sentences

"I've always felt as safe as houses here," he said.

From BBC • Jan. 10, 2022

But perhaps the people who suffered the biggest loses were those who had put their life savings into supposedly safe as houses banking shares, they saw their money wiped out.

From BBC • Feb. 15, 2016

Managerial situation Tony Pulis is as safe as houses.

From The Guardian • May 28, 2012

Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson called themselves the Dangerous Brothers, but they were safe as houses next to this scouse skinhead.

From The Guardian • Aug. 11, 2011

If we get among those shoals," he said, "we're safe as houses.

From Jim Davis by Masefield, John