safe

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)

1. Not in danger; out of harm's reach.

2. Free from risk.

   Synonyms: riskless, harmless

   Antonyms: harmful, dangerous

3. Providing protection from danger; providing shelter.

4. (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.

5. Properly secured.

   Synonym: secure

   Hyponyms: binary-safe, fail-safe, thread-safe, type-safe

6. (used after a noun, often forming a compound) Not susceptible to a specified source of harm.

7. (Britain, slang) Great, cool, awesome, respectable; a term of approbation, often as interjection.

   Synonyms: wicked, cool; see also Thesaurus:awesome
8. (slang) Lenient, usually describing a teacher that is easy-going.

   Synonyms: easy-going, merciful, tolerant, lenient

   Antonyms: strict, harsh, intolerant

9. Reliable; trusty.

   Synonym: trustworthy

10. Cautious.
11. (programming) Of a programming language, type-safe or more generally offering well-defined behavior despite programming errors.

Antonyms

• unsafe

Translations

Noun

safe (plural safes)

1. A box, usually made of metal, in which valuables can be locked for safekeeping.
2. (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.

3. (dated) A ventilated or refrigerated chest or closet for securing provisions from noxious animals or insects.
4. (dated, colloquial) A safety bicycle.

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)

1. (transitive) To make something safe.

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, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• safe at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• EFAs, FAEs, faes

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Hausa

Adverb

sāfe

1. in the morning

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Middle English

Adjective

safe

1. Alternative form of sauf

Preposition

safe

1. Alternative form of sauf

Conjunction

safe

1. Alternative form of sauf

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Portuguese

Verb

safe

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of safar
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of safar
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of safar
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of safar