Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Free from danger or injury; undamaged or unhurt.
  • adjective Not exposed to the threat of danger or harm.
  • adjective Usable in specified conditions without being damaged. Often used in combination.
  • adjective Free from risk; not liable to be lost; sure.
  • adjective Affording protection.
  • adjective Baseball Having reached a base without being put out, as a batter or base runner.
  • noun A metal container usually having a lock, used for storing valuables.
  • noun A repository for protecting stored items, especially a cooled compartment for perishable foods.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To render safe.
  • To escort to safety; safeguard.
  • Unharmed; unscathed; without having received injury or hurt: as, to arrive safe and sound; to bring goods safe to land.
  • Free from risk or danger; secure from harm or liability to harm or injury: as, a safe place; a safe harbor; safe from disease, enemies, etc.
  • Secure; not dangerous or liable to cause injury or harm; not likely to expose to danger: as, a safe bridge; the building was pronounced safe; the safe side of a file (the uncut side, also called the safe-edge).
  • No longer dangerous; placed beyond the power of doing harm.
  • Sound; whole; good.
  • Trusty; trustworthy: as, a safe adviser.
  • Sure; certain.
  • Synonyms and Safe, Secure. These words once conformed in meaning to their derivations, safe implying free from danger present or prospective, and secure free from fear or anxiety about danger; they are so used in the quotation. Now the two words are essentially synonymous, except that secure is perhaps stronger, especially in emphasizing freedom from occasion to fear.
  • noun Safety.
  • noun A place or structure for the storage of money, papers, or valuables in safety from risk of theft or fire.
  • noun A receptacle for the storage of meat and provisions. It is usually a skeleton frame of wood covered with fine wire netting to keep out insects.
  • noun Any receptacle for storing things in safety: as, a match-safe, milk-safe, coin-safe, etc.
  • noun A floating box or car for confining living fish.
  • noun A sheet of lead with the sides turned up, placed under a plumbing fixture to catch moisture or fluids due to leaks or carelessness, and thus protect floors and ceilings.
  • noun In saddlery, a piece of leather placed beneath a buckle to prevent chafing.
  • noun In distilling, a closed vessel attached by a pipe to the worm of a still, for the retention of a sample of the product, to be subsequently inspected by excise officers.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Free from harm, injury, or risk; untouched or unthreatened by danger or injury; unharmed; unhurt; secure; whole.
  • adjective Conferring safety; securing from harm; not exposing to danger; confining securely; to be relied upon; not dangerous
  • adjective Incapable of doing harm; no longer dangerous; in secure care or custody.
  • adjective (Baseball) a hit which enables the batter to get to first base even if no error is made by the other side.
  • transitive verb obsolete To render safe; to make right.
  • noun A strong and fireproof receptacle (as a movable chest of steel, etc., or a closet or vault of brickwork) for containing money, valuable papers, or the like.
  • noun A ventilated or refrigerated chest or closet for securing provisions from noxious animals or insects.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Not in danger; free from harm's reach.
  • adjective Free from risk; harmless, riskless.
  • adjective Providing protection from danger; providing shelter.
  • adjective 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.
  • adjective Properly secured; secure.
  • adjective Not in danger from the specified source of harm.
  • adjective UK, slang Great, cool, awesome, respectable; a term of approbation.
  • adjective Reliable.
  • adjective Cautious.
  • noun A box, usually made of metal, in which valuables can be locked for safekeeping.
  • noun slang A condom.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun strongbox where valuables can be safely kept
  • adjective (of an undertaking) secure from risk
  • noun contraceptive device consisting of a sheath of thin rubber or latex that is worn over the penis during intercourse
  • adjective having reached a base without being put out
  • adjective financially sound

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English sauf, from Old French, from Latin salvus, healthy; see sol- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English safe, saf, saaf, from Old French sauf, saulf, salf ("safe"), from Latin salvus ("whole, safe"), from Proto-Indo-European *salw-, *solw-, *slōw- (“safe, healthy”).

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Examples

  • Nebraska safe haven law reveals societal hypocrisy yahooBuzzArticleHeadline = 'Nebraska safe haven law reveals societal hypocrisy'; yahooBuzzArticleSummary = 'Article: Officials want to revise the law to limit \'safe haven\' to abandoned newborns one and younger, in line with other states.

    Nebraska safe haven law reveals societal hypocrisy 2008

  • A common player sign-off in Eve-Online is "fly safe", as in "I must go to bed, *fly safe* everyone."

    November 2007 2007

  • VIEW FAVORITES yahooBuzzArticleHeadline = 'Pentagon conducting research into adverse effects of anthrax vaccine while maintaining it is safe'; yahooBuzzArticleSummary = 'While conducting research on adverse effects of the military\'s mandatory anthrax vaccine, the Pentagon continues to maintain that it is \'safe for usage.

    OpEdNews - Quicklink: Pentagon conducting research into adverse effects of anthrax vaccine while maintaining it is safe 2007

  • A common player sign-off in Eve-Online is "fly safe", as in "I must go to bed, *fly safe* everyone."

    Fly safe 2007

  • Cuz OBL is outside this nation you see so Safer yes, as safe as the President says we are…..safe.

    Think Progress » Fox News Reports — And Decides: America Is Safer 2006

  • This phrase "be safe" occurs again in verse 28, and again in the last verse of the psalm, where _quam nisi -- salvus esse non poterit_ should be translated _which except a man have believed faithfully and firmly, he cannot be safe_.

    The Prayer Book Explained Percival Jackson

  • Again there appeared a picture of the room, the window beyond, the mail clerk asleep at his desk, everything as before, except that where the safe had been, _there was a shadowy, half visible safe_, the metal glowing brightly.

    The Black Star Passes John Wood Campbell 1940

  • "Take her," she said to Mrs. Gale, as she gave her the baby, "keep her safe -- _safe_!"

    Patty and Azalea Carolyn Wells 1902

  • "Perhaps," Marco had heard Loristan say to him almost severely, once when he had forgotten himself and had stood at salute while his master passed through a broken-down iron gate before an equally broken-down-looking lodging-house -- "perhaps you can force yourself to remember when I tell you that it is not safe -- _it is not safe_!

    The Lost Prince Frances Hodgson Burnett 1886

  • That's why the term "safe sex" even came about -- sex is easily the most common way to transmit or "catch" HIV.

    Thomas P. Connelly, D.D.S.: Can You Get HIV From Kissing? D.D.S. Thomas P. Connelly 2011

  • It worked across a variety of human cell types, targeting genomic ‘safe harbour’ sites that can accommodate new DNA without disrupting cellular functions and installing genetic payloads at the natural locations of multiple disease-related genes.

    Powerful CRISPR system inserts whole gene into human DNA Elie Dolgin 2025

  • Safe leave is paid time off for the parents of survivors or the survivors of: Sexual assault Domestic violence  Harassment Bias crimes Stalking

    Applying for safe leave - Paid Leave Oregon Oregon Employment Department 2026

  • Tesco is first supermarket to offer paid ‘safe leave’ for victims of domestic abuse

    Tesco is first supermarket to offer paid ‘safe leave’ for victims of domestic abuse Sarah Butler 2026

  • Safe leave is leave from work for survivors of violence, or their family members, to seek help, support, and services related to the violence experienced.

    History of Paid Leave in the United States 2024

  • The founders and staff of Beschermde Wieg insist that their rooms offer a caring alternative to the more controversial baby windows – also known as baby hatches, life windows or safe haven boxes – where a person simply deposits a baby in a secure vault, often in the wall of a public building, and walks away.

    ‘Pregnant, homeless, what now?’ The search for a safe place to abandon a baby Laura Spinney 2025

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  • Can you explain that image?

    February 20, 2007