English Online Dictionary. What means safe? What does safe mean?
English
Etymology
From Middle English sauf, safe, saf, saaf, from Old French sauf, saulf, salf (“safe”), from Latin salvus (“whole, safe”), from Proto-Indo-European *solh₂- (“whole, every”).
Pronunciation
- enPR: sāf, IPA(key): /seɪf/
- Rhymes: -eɪf
- Hyphenation: safe
Adjective
safe (comparative safer or more safe, superlative safest or most safe)
- Not in danger; out of harm's reach.
- Free from risk; harmless, riskless.
- Providing protection from danger; providing shelter.
- (baseball) When a batter successfully reaches first base, or when a baserunner successfully advances to the next base or returns to the base he last occupied; not out.
- Properly secured; secure.
- (used after a noun, often forming a compound) Not susceptible to a specified source of harm.
- (Britain, slang) Great, cool, awesome, respectable; a term of approbation.
- (Can we date this quote?) Steve Carter, Love, Sex and Tesco's Finest Cava, page 169:
- “Yeah, safe mate, wassup?” says one hoodie, who should at least be credited with attempting a more detailed sentence construction.
- (slang) Lenient, usually describing a teacher that is easy-going.
- Reliable.
- Cautious.
Synonyms
- harmless, riskless
- secure
- (cool): wicked, cool, awesome
- (reliable): trustworthy
- (lenient): easy-going, merciful, tolerant, lenient
Antonyms
- unsafe
- (providing protection from danger; providing shelter): dangerous
- (providing protection from danger; providing shelter): harmful
- insecure
- (lenient): strict, harsh, intolerant
Hyponyms
- (not in danger from the specified source of harm): dishwasher-safe
- (properly secured; secure): binary-safe, fail-safe, thread-safe, type-safe, typesafe
Translations
Noun
safe (plural safes)
- A box, usually made of metal, in which valuables can be locked for safekeeping.
- (slang) A condom.
- 1999, Rita Ciresi, Pink Slip, Delta (1999), →ISBN, page 328:
- She'd better have an arsenal of Trojans in her purse just in case he wasn't carrying a safe in his back pocket.
- 1999, Rita Ciresi, Pink Slip, Delta (1999), →ISBN, page 328:
- (dated) A ventilated or refrigerated chest or closet for securing provisions from noxious animals or insects.
Synonyms
- (box for storing valuables): coffer, lockbox, strongbox
- (condom): see also Thesaurus:condom.
Hyponyms
- failsafe
Translations
Verb
safe (third-person singular simple present safes, present participle safing, simple past and past participle safed)
- (transitive) To make something safe.
- 2007, Rocky Raab, Mike Five Eight: Air War Over Cambodia: Air War Over Cambodia
- “It just trails behind the pylon until I land, then Cramer removes it when he safes the rocket pods. No evidence of anything when I taxi back inside the compound.”
- 2012, Erik Seedhouse, Interplanetary Outpost
- One of the most important events after touchdown will be to safe the Dauntless, which will include purging the engines and shutting down the landing systems […]
- 2007, Rocky Raab, Mike Five Eight: Air War Over Cambodia: Air War Over Cambodia
Derived terms
Related terms
- better safe than sorry
- Coolgardie safe
See also
- save
- safety
References
- safe on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Further reading
- safe in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- safe in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- safe at OneLook Dictionary Search
Anagrams
- EFAs, FAEs, faes
Hausa
Adverb
sāfe
- in the morning
Middle English
Adjective
safe
- Alternative form of sauf
Preposition
safe
- Alternative form of sauf
Conjunction
safe
- Alternative form of sauf
Portuguese
Verb
safe
- first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of safar
- third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of safar
- third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of safar
- third-person singular (você) negative imperative of safar