safety
- the state of being safe; freedom from the occurrence or risk of injury, danger, or loss.
- the quality of averting or not causing injury, danger, or loss.
- a contrivance or device to prevent injury or avert danger.
- Also called lock, safety catch, safety lock. a locking or cutoff device that prevents a gun from being fired accidentally.
- the action of keeping safe.
- Football.
- an act or play in which a player on the offensive team is tackled in his own end zone or downs the ball there, or in which the ball goes out of bounds on a fumble, having last been in bounds in or over the end zone and having last been in the possession of an offensive player.Compare touchback.
- an award of two points to the opposing team on this play.
- Also called safety man.a player on defense who lines up farthest behind the line of scrimmage.
- Baseball. a base hit, especially a one-base hit.
- Slang. a condom.
- Obsolete. close confinement or custody.
Origin of safety
Related Words
freedomsecuritysanctuaryimmunitysheltercoverdefenserefugeasylumassuranceinvulnerabilitysafenessimpregnabilityinviolabilityExamples from the Web for safety
Contemporary Examples
Not for the benefit of the harasser, of course, but for your own safety.
Cover-Ups and Concern Trolls: Actually, It's About Ethics in Suicide JournalismArthur Chu
January 3, 2015
There was virtually no government oversight of safety and operational standards.
Helicopters lifted pregnant women and children to safety first.
Before the Maidan revolution, Russian political refugees living in Kiev were worried about their safety.
This government obligation is limited by practical considerations of safety and security.
Historical Examples
But can the safety of the state be secured by merely excluding the vicious poor?
PhilotheaLydia Maria Child
Then there was another stream to cross, which was also passed in safety.
Harriet, The Moses of Her PeopleSarah H. Bradford
They looked after the safety of the roads and the waterways.
Ancient ManHendrik Willem van Loon
We are now in safety again, and to-morrow being Sunday we will rest.
Explorations in AustraliaJohn Forrest
These only becloud, they do not help to point the way of safety and honor.
safety
- the quality of being safe
- freedom from danger or risk of injury
- a contrivance or device designed to prevent injury
- American football
- Also called: safetymaneither of two players who defend the area furthest back in the field
- a play in which the offensive team causes the ball to cross its own goal line and then grounds the ball behind that line, scoring two points for the opposing teamCompare touchback
Word Origin and History for safety
n.
early 14c., from Old French sauvete "safety, safeguard; salvation; security, surety," earlier salvetet (11c., Modern French sauveté), from Medieval Latin salvitatem (nominative salvitas) "safety," from Latin salvus (see safe (adj.)). Meaning "trigger-lock on a gun" is attested from 1881.
As a North American football position, first recorded 1931. As a type of score against one's own team, 1881. Safety-valve, which diminishes the risk of explosion, is from 1797; figurative sense recorded from 1818. Safety-net in literal sense (in machinery) by 1916, later of aerial circus performances (1920s); figurative use by 1950. Safety-first as an accident-prevention slogan first recorded 1873.