safe

/seɪf/

/seɪf/

Other forms: safer; safest; safes

If you're safe, you're out of harm's way, or protected from being hurt. These days most parents strap their small children into car seats to keep them safe.

When you protect a person or an object from danger, you keep them safe. Eggs are sold in special cartons so they're safe from cracking, and drivers wear seat belts to keep them safe from being injured in accidents. Cash is kept safe in the bank. In baseball, a player is safe when they touch a base. You can also use safe as a noun, for a special box that keeps money and other valuable items safe.

Definitions of safe

1. adjective

   free from danger or the risk of harm
   “a safe trip”

   “you will be safe here”

   “a safe place”

   “a safe bet”

   synonyms:

   harmless

   not causing or capable of causing harm

   uninjured

   not injured physically or mentally

   fail-safe

   eliminating danger by compensating automatically for a failure or malfunction

   off the hook

   freed from danger or blame or obligation

   risk-free, riskless, unhazardous

   thought to be devoid of risk

   safe and sound, unhurt

   free from danger or injury

   secure

   free from danger or risk

   invulnerable

   immune to attack; impregnable

   antonyms:

   dangerous

   involving or causing danger or risk; liable to hurt or harm

   breakneck

   moving at very high speed

   chanceful, chancy, dicey, dodgy

   of uncertain outcome; especially fraught with risk

   desperate

   (of persons) dangerously reckless or violent as from urgency or despair

   hazardous, risky, wild

   involving risk or danger

   insidious

   intended to entrap

   mordacious

   biting or given to biting

   on the hook

   caught in a difficult or dangerous situation

   parlous, perilous, precarious, touch-and-go

   fraught with danger

   self-destructive, suicidal

   dangerous to yourself or your interests

   treacherous, unreliable

   dangerously unstable and unpredictable

   insecure, unsafe

   lacking in security or safety

   vulnerable

   susceptible to attack
2. adjective

   (of an undertaking) secure from risk
   synonyms:

   unadventurous

   lacking in boldness
3. adjective

   financially sound
   synonyms: dependable, good, secure

   sound

   financially secure and safe
4. noun

   strongbox where valuables can be safely kept
   type of:

   deedbox, strongbox

   a strongly made box for holding money or valuables; can be locked
5. adjective

   having reached a base without being put out
   “the runner was called safe when the baseman dropped the ball”

   antonyms:

   out

   not allowed to continue to bat or run

   down

   being put out by a strikeout
6. noun

   a ventilated or refrigerated cupboard for securing provisions from pests
   types:

   meat safe

   a safe for storing meat

   type of:

   closet, cupboard

   a small room (or recess) or cabinet used for storage space
7. noun

   contraceptive device consisting of a sheath of thin rubber or latex that is worn over the penis during intercourse
   type of:

   birth control device, contraceptive, contraceptive device, preventative, preventive, prophylactic device

   an agent or device intended to prevent conception