safe-deposit
Americanadjective
noun
Etymology
Origin of safe-deposit
An Americanism dating back to 1775–85
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.
They are more likely in that jar of change your grandfather kept, or in your mother’s safe-deposit box.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 9, 2025
Before obtaining its warrant to raid US Private Vaults, the FBI promised that it would not conduct a “criminal search or seizure” of customers’ safe-deposit boxes.
From Slate • Feb. 7, 2024
Don’t put the will or other important documents in a safe-deposit box.
From Washington Post • Nov. 20, 2022
Some financial details too routine for the safe-deposit box shouldn’t be forgotten in the rush to depart.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 1, 2022
She always went to the same places—first to the Monterey County Bank where she was admitted behind the shining bars that defended the safe-deposit vault.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
