| 释义 |
▪ I. safe, n.|seɪf|
Also 5, 7 save.
[Originally save, f. save v.; later assimilated to safe a.]
1. A receptacle for the safe storage of articles: esp.a. A ventilated chest or cupboard for protecting provisions from insects and other noxious animals; a meat-safe (see meat n. 6).
c1440Promp. Parv. 10/1 Almery of mete kepynge, or a saue for mete, cibutum. 1611Cotgr., Chasiere,..the great, or grated Saue hung by a pulley, to the top of a Dayriehouse, or Store-house; and seruing to keepe cheese, white⁓meates, and other belly-timber in. 1688R. Holme Armoury iii. xiv. (Roxb.) 17/2 The Arke or Safe, is a kind of little house made of wood and couered with haire cloth, and so by two rings hung in the midle of a Rome, thereby to secure all things put therein from the cruelty of devouring Rats, mice [etc.]. 1706Phillips (ed. Kersey), Safe, a sort of Cup-board to keep Victuals, contrived with Holes to let in the Air. 1881B. W. Richardson in Gd. Words XXII. 51/2 It is good practice, whenever the air of the safe is close and tainted, to have it fumigated with antiseptic gas.
b. A fire-proof and burglar-proof receptacle for plate, money, deeds, and other valuables. Usually made of steel and iron, with one or more doors secured by elaborate locks.
1820Rec. Early Hist. Boston (1909) XXXIX. 174 A fire proof safe in the Selectmens room for the security of the records. 1838A. Bethune Sc. Peasant's Fireside 70 A penknife..and a letter..were found lying near the safe, as if they had been lost by the robber. 1850Chubb Locks & Keys 17 The bank may be entered, the misnamed safe, or strong room, be entered. 1874J. T. Micklethwaite Mod. Par. Churches 164 An iron fire-proof safe must be built into the wall.
2. Saddlery. ‘A piece of leather placed under a buckle, to prevent it from chafing’ (Knight Dict. Mech. 1875).
3. A tray laid under plumbing fixtures to receive spilled water.
1862Illustr. Catal. Internat. Exhib., Industr. Dept., Brit. Div. II. No. 6392 Patent Bath, sienna marbled inside, verdantique outside. Taps and safe fitted. 1896T. E. Coleman Sanitary House Drainage xvi. 129 The floor of the bath-room should be laid with mosaic..the bath standing within a properly constructed safe, which may be made of slate, marble, glazed earthenware, or tiles. 1956Gumbrill & Smith Blake & Jenkins's Drainage & Sanitation (ed. 11) vii. 215 The lead safe sometimes placed under the cistern must have a waste pipe which should be carried through an external wall.
4. A contraceptive sheath. colloq.
1897Science of Generation xx. 235 The use of various mechanical contrivances, such as French Safes, Condom Sheaths, etc., is also objectionable. 1959V. Packard Status Seekers (1960) xi. 155 Young Italian-American men..of high-school age regularly carry ‘safes’ or condoms. 1979E. Koch Good Night Little Spy x. 94 Just in time he remembered his safe. He took it out of his pants pocket.
5. The operative position of a firearm's safety device; the state in which a gun cannot be fired. Cf. safety 8.
1920G. Burrard Notes on Sporting Rifles 71 One may..fail to stop a dangerous charge through the rifle being at ‘safe’. 1967V. Canning Python Project ii. 31, I hope you've got that damned thing on ‘safe’? 1978F. Ross Sleeping Dogs 127 The safety catch was off. He clicked it to ‘safe’ and tossed it on the carpet.
6. attrib. and Comb. (chiefly sense 1 b): simple attrib., as safe-door, safe-key, safe-robbery; objective, as safe burster, safe buster, safe-maker, safe-making, safe-opener, safe-robber; safe-blower orig. U.S., a safe-robber who uses explosive material to burst open safes; hence safe-blowing vbl. n.; safe-breaker orig. U.S., a robber who breaks open safes; hence safe-breaking vbl. n.; safe-cracker orig. U.S. = safe-breaker; hence safe-cracking vbl. n.
1873G. Lening Dark Side N.Y. Life 148 Namely, first those who burst open the safe with gunpowder,—‘safe blowers’. 1951Wodehouse Old Reliable iv. 51 Are you a safeblower magically gifted with the art of buttling, or a butler who has somehow picked up the knack of blowing safes? 1972Times 12 May 2/8 A former safe-blower..claimed to have got away with a total of {pstlg}10,000 at a cost of 20 years in different jails.
1928H. Asbury Gangs of N.Y. x. §2. 217 [Marm Mandelbaum] also offered advanced courses in burglary and safe-blowing. 1970‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Cookie Bird viii. 113 We amuse ourselves with safeblowing.
1870M. H. Smith 20 Yrs. Wall St. xxv. 320 A safe-breaker from Boston, a bank-robber from Philadelphia, a New York thief, have each their own way of doing things. 1977J. Wainwright Nest of Rats i. vii. 46 The genuine peterman—the safe-breaker who takes a personal pride in pitting his wits against those of the safe-makers.
1934Webster, Safebreaking. 1937‘M. Innes’ Hamlet, Revenge! ii. ii. 115 The burglary and safe-breaking had been unsuccessful. 1981‘M. Hebden’ Pel is Puzzled vii. 61 Two years for attempted safe-breaking in Lyons.
1873G. Lening Dark Side N.Y. Life 148 Then those who, not using powder, have recourse to mechanical means, these are ‘safe bursters’ par excellence. 1934Webster, Safecracker. 1960Times 27 May 18/6 His hero, Bob, is an (almost) reformed safe-cracker. 1977D. Bagley Enemy xiv. 111 The chief safe-cracker was a man I'd met before.
1934Webster, Safecracking. 1937‘M. Innes’ Hamlet, Revenge! ii. iii. 130, I know something about this safe-cracking business. 1967Times 28 Feb. (Canada Suppl.) 31 Montreal claimed that it had more..safecrackings than any other city in the world. 1977D. Bagley Enemy xiv. 111, I..found the safe-cracking team at work.
1894‘Mark Twain’ in Century Mag. XLVIII. 22 The safe-door was not open. 1911Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 997/1 Where larger quantities of valuables had to be preserved than a safe would conveniently hold, a safe-door of larger dimensions would be made and attached to a masonry or brick room.
1894‘Mark Twain’ in Century Mag. XLVIII. 22 His plan was, to..steal the safe-key..and then go back and rob the safe. 1911Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 996/2 Well-authenticated experiments performed by safe-makers on their own and other makers' productions. 1977Safe-maker [see safe-breaker].
1886Encycl. Brit. XXI. 144/1 The ingenuity of inventors has..effected much in safe-making. 1970H. Trevelyan Middle East in Revolution 251 The combination lock was stuck and only the girls, who had been evacuated, could open the safe. Miraculously, an amateur safe-opener appeared and did the trick.
1873G. Lening Dark Side N.Y. Life 148 The safe robber..usually obtains access to houses by means of false keys. 1959J. Cary Captive & Free xxvii. 124 He might have been a test pilot, a racing motorist, an explorer, a climber of Himalayan peaks; or perhaps a cat burglar, safe-robber, or hold-up man.
1886Frank Leslie's Pop. Monthly XXI. 47/2 The Egerton safe-robbery..had baffled all the detectives in town.
Hence safed ppl. a., provided with a safe.
1881Blackw. Mag. CXXIX. 176 A solidly furnished though dismal apartment, duly safed and grated.
▪ II. safe, a.|seɪf|
Forms: 3–6 sauf, (3–4 sauve), 4–6 saufe, 5 saauf, 5–6 sauff(e; 3–5 saf, 4–5 saff(e, 4–6 saaf, (5 saafe, saaff); 4–6 saulf, salve, 5–7 salf(e, 6–7 salffe, saulfe; 5–7 Sc. saiff, 6 saif, saiv, sayfe, sailf, 6–7 saife, 7 saiffe; 3–5 (6–7 Sc.) save, 4– safe.
[ME. sauf, sāf, a. F. sauf (fem. sauve) = Pr. salv-s, sal-s, Sp., Pg., It. salvo:—L. salvus uninjured, entire, healthy (whence salūt-, salūs health, salvē imperative, ‘hail’).
The L. word corresponds in root and suffix, though prob. not in ablaut-grade, to Gr. ὅλος (Ionic οὖλος) whole, Skr. sarva all, whole:—Indogermanic *solwo-. The root occurs also in Irish slán healthy, and in OL. sollus whole, Welsh holl all, whole:—*solno-.
With regard to the phonology in Eng. cf. sage (the plant) from F. sauge, and gage (gauge) from ONF. gauge.
The forms with v in ME. usually represent either the plural or the definite inflexion of the adj. From the 15th to the 17th c. save sometimes occurs (latterly only Sc.), in most instances prob. as a mere graphical alteration of safe.]
I. Free from hurt or damage; unharmed.
1. a. Unhurt, uninjured, unharmed; having been preserved from or escaped some real or apprehended danger. Chiefly (now only) with quasi-advb. force after verbs of coming, going, bringing, etc.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 6895 Ȝif hire vet beþ þanne sauf wiþoute wemminge. a1300Cursor M. 11546 Þai ferd al sauf in to þair kyth. 1340Ayenb. 36 Þet hi habbe, huet cas yualle, hire catel sauf. c1386Chaucer Can. Yeom. T. 397 Somtyme his good is drenched in the see, And somtym comth it sauf un-to the londe. c1450Merlin xxvii. 559 That ye sholde yeve hym trewys saf to come and saf to go..be-twene this and yole. 1471Caxton Recuyell (Sommer) I. 217 Ye shall retorne saulf fro this entrepryse. 1513Douglas æneis x. i. 104 Suffyr that ȝyng Ascanyus mot be Salf [v.r. sauff] fra all wapynnis [L. ab armis incolumem], and of perrell fre. 1538Starkey England i. ii. 67 As gud marynerys..bryng theyr schype saue out of tempestys into the sure port. 1600in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 458 To retowrn saulfe without any molestacion. a1674Clarendon Hist. Reb. xv. §57 As if the principal art requisite in the captain of a ship had been to be sure to come home safe again. 1737C. Pitt in J. Duncombe Lett. (1773) II. 98 The papers came safe to hand. 1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 83 As the Moors are excellent swimmers, I suppose most of them got safe. 1785Cowper Let. to Lady Hesketh Wks. 1836 V. 198 My desk..is safe arrived. 1799T. Holcroft Mem. (1816) III. 229 [In a stiff breeze a sailor swore that] he could not keep his hair safe on his head. 1831Society I. 209 He always insists on seeing us safe across the Downs. 1902Wister Virginian xix, Your..man brought us out..safe and dry.
b. Often in phr. safe and sound. Occas. † sound and safe; also safe and sure, † safe and sicker, † quit and safe. [F. sain et sauf; L. sanus et salvus, salvus sanus, salvus et sospes, etc.] Also † safe and soon, † soon and safe.
a1300Cursor M. 7867 Sauf and sond ai mot þou be To all þe folk es vnder þe. c1350Will. Palerne 2816 Þei were gretli glad..Þat he sauf was & sound fro þe men a-schaped. 1390Gower Conf. I. 233 So that thei mihten sauf and sone The water passe. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. cii. (1495) 667 Deed bodyes ben kepte sauf and sounde whan they ben bawmyd wyth confeccyons of mirra. c1440Promp. Parv. 440/2 Saaf, and sekyr, salvus. c1450Myrc Festial 17 And soo he ȝede sonde and saf hys way. c1489Caxton Sonnes of Aymon i. 29, I shall lete you goo quyte & sauf. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. ix. 42 b, [He] was by a Dolphin brought safe and sound to the porte. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 635 Gobanium.., keeping the ancient name, as it were, safe and sound is tearmed Aber-Gevenny. 1590Shakes. Com. Err. i. i. 49 And soone, and safe, [she] arriued where I was. 1819–24Byron Juan iv. liv, I leave Don Juan for the present, safe—Not sound, poor fellow, but severely wounded. 1847Grote Greece ii. l. (1862) IV. 353 He would again replace him ‘safe and sound’ in the fortification.
c. to be, arrive, etc., safe (or safe and sound): often merely a colloq. or epistolary formula for ‘to be duly arrived’, ‘to be at one's destination’, etc.
1710Swift Jrnl. to Stella 9 Sept., I send this only to tell that I am safe in London. 1882Sala Amer. Revis. ii. (1885) 25, I was safe and sound in the Brevoort coach. 1887Century Mag. Dec. 197/2, I promised to bring you both to lunch, safe and sound.
†d. (to come) to safe hand: confusedly used for ‘to come safe to hand’. Obs.
c1645Howell Lett. (1655) III. xviii. 27 Your last of the fourth current came to safe hand.
†2. In sound health, well, ‘whole’; usually healed, cured, restored to health. Also safe and sound; also const. of. Obs.
c1290S. Eng. Leg. 458/51 Þe Quen a-non þoruȝh is bone deliuered was of childe, In guod lif, and hire child al-so..Þo the king i-say þe Quene sauf, and þat child al-so. a1300Cursor M. 8170 Thoru þe, he said, sal þis mesele Be sauf and sund of al vn-hele. c1350Will. Palerne 868 He was al sauf & sound of alle his sor greues. 1382Wyclif Luke xviii. 42 Thi feith hath maad thee saaf [Vulg. te salvum fecit]. c1400Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 92 He þat drynkys it, with þe sauour þeroff he shall fele hele, and he shal be sauf of catarre, of Malencoly..and of many oþer syknes. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 3661 Þe seke man with his hand he blisse; Fra he him touched safe he was. 1486Bk. St. Albans c vj b, Put som in the Roofe of her mowth and she shall be saafe. 1526Tindale Luke viii. 48 Thy fayth hath made the safe.
†3. Theol. [After L. salvus in the Vulgate.] Delivered from sin or condemnation, saved; in a state of salvation, spiritually ‘whole’. Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 19967 All to be sauf o sin and scam, þat wald tru in his hali nam. a1300–1400Ibid. 10867 (Gött.) His folk all saf [Cott. saued] þan sal he make, And bring þaim vte of sinne and wrake. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 2959 Bot yhit has the saul mare drede þan, Til þe dome be gyven and it may se Whether it sal dampned or saufe be. 1382Wyclif Acts xvi. 31 Bileue thou in to the Lord Jhesu and thou schalt be saf [Vulg. salvus eris; Gr. σωθήση]. 1399Langl. Rich. Redeles Prol. 81 As my soule be saff ffrom synne at myn ende. c1440Hylton Scala Perf. (W. de W. 1494) i. xli, Some by sorowe..some by prechyng & techyng..shal be saaf & come to blisse. 1562Winȝet Cert. Tractates Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 81 God makis ws sauff be the lawar of regeneratioun [Tit. iii. 5].
†4. Mentally or morally sound or sane. Obs.
The phr. with (a) safe conscience was suggested by L. salvā conscientiā (cf. 5 below).
1390Gower Conf. II. 32, I mai wel with sauf conscience Excuse me of necgligence Towardes love in alle wise. 1492In god mynde and saf memorye [see memory 2 b]. 1549Latimer 1st Serm. bef. Edw. VI D j, The which treasure, if it be not sufficiente, he maye lawfully and wyth a salue conscience, take taxis of hys subiectes. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 6 b, To revoke his sentence already taught and defended, he cannot with a safe conscience [orig. cum bona conscientia]. 1567in F. J. Baigent Crondal Rec. (1891) 172 Any personne..beinge of the full age of twenty and one yeares, of saulf memorie. 1577J. Northbrooke Dicing (1843) 91 Fewe men or women come from playes, and resortes of men, with safe and chaste mindes. 1601Shakes. Jul. C. i. i. 14 A Trade Sir, that I hope I may vse with a safe Conscience. 1604― Oth. iv. i. 280 Are his wits safe? Is he not light of Braine? 1611― Cymb. iv. ii. 131 No single soule Can we set eye on: but in all safe reason He must haue some Attendants. a1817Jane Austen Northang. Abb. (1818) I. xiii. 231 Now we may all go to-morrow with a safe conscience.
†5. Used in a construction corresponding to the L. ablative absolute (e.g. salvā fide, salvo jure; so F. sauf votre respect) with the sense: Keeping..safe or intact, without hurt or prejudice to.., without loss of.., making reservation of.., with due respect to... Obs. (See also safe, save prep.)
c1290S. Eng. Leg. 120/488 Trewenesse we þe sworen ase riȝt was, and eorþelich honour al-so, Sauue ore ordre and ore riȝte, bote þat was out i-do. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1242, & þat he vor is neueu wolde, vorto abatie strif, Do hey amendement, sauue lume & lif. c1374Chaucer Troylus ii. 480 But elles wol I fonde, Myn honour sauf, plese him fro day to day. 1423Jas. I Kingis Q. cxliii, Hir worschip sauf. 1470Henry Wallace xi. 1208 Tharfor till him is no comparisoun, As off a man, sauff reuerence off the croun. c1483Caxton Dialogues 17 Non feray, sauue le vostre grace, I shall not, sauf your grace. c1500Melusine 3 Saaf theire juggement.
II. Free from danger; secure.
6. a. Not exposed to danger; not liable to be harmed or lost; secure.
1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 227 Þey bulde hem smale cootes and cabans..þat hire lyf myȝte be þe more saaf. c1400Laud Troy Bk. (E.E.T.S.) 18201 Off no-thing were thei a-dredde; Thei wende thei hadde ben saue & sure. c1440Pallad. on Husb. xii. 363 And wrie hem that noon ayer vppon hem shyne, So beth they sauf. 1447–8Shillingford's Lett. (Camden) 88 To bryng yn stuf for the werre..ther to be kept stronge saf and sure. 1590Shakes. Com. Err. i. ii. 105, I greatly feare my monie is not safe. 1596― Tam. Shr. v. ii. 151 Whil'st thou ly'st warme at home, secure and safe. 1591Spenser Daphn. xx, Safe then and safest were my sillie sheepe, Ne fear'd the Wolfe. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 662 No second witness could be found... Cornish thought himself safe. Ibid. vii. II. 190 Apprehensions that the interests of the Anglican Church might not be safe under the rule of a man bred among Dutch Presbyterians. 1852Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. vii. 43 No, no, Harry darling! mother can't eat till you are safe!
quasi-adv.1860Bohn's Handbk. Games, Billiards 572 Either decline the chance altogether, and lay the balls safe, or make that stroke which seems most sure and easy.
b. Const. from, † of (= secure against).
1390Gower Conf. III. 153 That he mesure in his expence So kepe, that of indigence He mai be sauf. c1440Pallad. on Husb. i. 973 Al the lond that thou hast goon aboute ffro cloudis wicke is saaf [Bodl. MS. saue]. Ibid. 982 Thy seedis with cucumber rotis grounde Let stepe, and saaf of euery mys they are. 1535Coverdale Job xxi. 9 Their houses are safe from all feare. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 33 Yf they be steeped in Capons blood, they wyll be safe from all hurtful weedes. 1697Dryden æneid vii. 1065 Where then he liv'd obscure, but safe from Jove. 1801Med. Jrnl. V. 403 That a person once infected with the small-pox is safe from having it a second time. 1866G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. v. (1878) 66, I did not feel safe from him till I was once more in my study. 1891Helen B. Harris Apol. Aristides ii. 14 The hermits..petitioned him to build them a house where they might be safe from the incursions of the Arabs.
7. Of a place or thing: Affording security or immunity; not exposing to danger; not likely to cause harm or injury. Also const. for.
1390Gower Conf. I. 165 Neptunus..kept hire in so sauf a place Fro Polipheme and his manace, That he..Ne mihte atteigne hir compaignie. 1590Shakes. Com. Err. i. ii. 78 Answer me, In what safe place you haue bestow'd my monie. 1603Owen Pembrokeshire (1891) 111 A good and salfe roade for shippinge. 1666Act 18 & 19 Chas. II, c. 8 §5 The building with Bricke is not onely more comely and durable but alsoe more safe against future perills of Fire. 1680Lady R. Russell Lett. I. iii. 11 The Iesuits' Powder is..held most safe to be taken by the best doctors. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 608 A Station safe for Ships, when Tempests roar. 1789W. Buchan Dom. Med. (1790) 129 All kinds of linen and bedding, when not frequently used, become damp. How then is it possible that beds, which are not slept in above two or three times a year, should be safe? 1861F. Nightingale Nursing 14 The safest atmosphere of all for a patient is a good fire and an open window. 1866Young Fires 59 Staircases, to be fireproof, or at least safe under the ordinary circumstances of fire. 1870Dickens E. Drood viii, That part of the world is at a safe distance. 1917W. Wilson in Sel. Addresses (1918) 195 The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty. 1929H. W. Nevinson English viii. 63 It was believed by some that the Great War was waged to make the world safe for democracy, and the result has been that democracy was destroyed in many European countries. 1932J. Fortescue in Eighteen-Sixties 244 The pain of seeing the world made safe for that most unsafe and lowering of influences, vulgarity. 1932A. P. Herbert in Punch 15 June 653/2 The last few years of the War were directed by the great brains up above to thinking out new ways of making the War safe for the infantry. 1963J. F. Kennedy in Evening Star (Washington, D.C.) 10 June a7/4 And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity.
8. a. Used transf. in the compounds safe-conduct, safeguard, q.v.; hence with ns. of similar meaning, as safe convoy, safe custody (cf. L. tuta custodia), † safe stowage; also safe keeping, safe ward.
1536Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) II. 9 To kepe the same Offeley in your salve custodye. 1547in Vicary's Anat. (1888) App. iii. i. 129 Which lettres were forwyth Delyuered ouer to the sauffe Custody of Master Chamberleyn. a1605Montgomerie Misc. Poems xlix. 22 Than grant thou vs..Thy saiv sure conduct [cf. OF. salf et seur conduit]. 1611Shakes. Cymb. i. vi. 192 And I am something curious, being strange, To haue them in safe stowage. 1634Milton Comus 81, I shoot from Heav'n to give him safe convoy. 1649Cromwell Let. 24 Nov. in Carlyle App. C. No. 14, I have by this Bearer returned a Safe-convoy, as you desire, for what Commissioners you think fit to send out to me. 1651Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxviii. 164 The safe custody of a man accused. 1766Blackstone Comm. II. 505 His only business being to keep the goods in his safe custody.
†b. safe pledge (see quot.). Obs.
1684Cowel's Interpr. (ed. Manley), Safe pledge, Salvus plegius, is a Surety given for a Man's Appearance against a day assigned, Bracton lib. 4. cap. 2. num. 2. where it is also called certus plegius.
9. a. Of an action, procedure, undertaking, plan, etc.: Free from risk, not involving danger or mishap, guaranteed against failure. Sometimes = free from risk of error, as in it is safe to say...
1590Spenser F.Q. iii. xi. 23 Therefore, Sir knight, Aread what course of you is safest dempt. 1605Shakes. Macb. ii. iii. 148 Our safest way Is to auoid the ayme. 1624Middleton Game at Chess ii. i. 21 What haue you there? Bl. Bs. A Note (Sir) of State-Policie, And one exceeding safe one. 1651Hobbes Leviathan ii. xxvii. 151 It is safer to erre on that hand, than on the other. 1721De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 43 'Tis never safe to despise an enemy. 1728Swift Charac. Mrs. Johnson Wks. 1824 IX. 286 Perhaps she was sometimes too severe, which is a safe and pardonable error. 1751Johnson Rambler No. 173 ⁋11 It is always safer to err in favour of others than of ourselves. 1790Cowper Odyss. xxiii. 150 To me the safest counsel and the best. 1810Scott Lady of L. ii. xxxvi, Far up the lake 'twere safest land. 1854J. B. Langley Life-Agent's Vade-mecum 53 If an assurance company has obtained 1000 policies, it is statistically safe. 1863W. Phillips Sp. xi. 254 This is Choate, who made it safe to murder. 1893Law Times XCIV. 454/1 It is safe to say that propositions of this kind will not figure upon the Statute-book yet awhile.
†b. In stronger sense: Conducive to safety. Obs.
1625Bacon Ess., Seditions (Arb.) 407 An Embleme, no doubt, to shew, how safe it is for Monarchs, to make sure of the good Will of Common People.
c. Phr. on the safe side = with a margin of security against error. Cf. the sure(r) side s.v. sure a. 1 e.
1811Jane Austen Sense & Sens. III. iv. 78 Determining to be on the safe side, he made his apology in form as soon as he could say any thing. 1847Marryat Childr. N. Forest xi, Be on the safe side, and do not trust him too far. 1858Merc. Mar. Mag. V. 84 They should rather err on the safe side. 1893Sir R. Ball Story of Sun 307 For the sake of being on the safe side, I have taken the lowest value.
d. applied transf. to the agent.
1874Heath Croquet-Player 53 Remember that the dead ball is not so safe a helper as your partner. 1884Liverpool Merc. 18 Feb. 5/2 One is perfectly safe in saying that the position of the defendants has relatively improved.
10. Secured, kept in custody; unable to escape. Hence, not likely to come out, intervene, or do hurt; placed beyond the power of doing harm, not at present dangerous.
c1600Distr. Emperor i. i. in Bullen Old Pl. (1884) III. 200 What, madam? is he salve asleepe? Most soundlye, Sir. 1605Shakes. Macb. iii. iv. 25 But Banquo's safe? Mur. I, my good Lord: safe in a ditch he bides. 1610― Temp. iii. i. 21 My Father Is hard at study; pray now rest your selfe, Hee's safe for these three houres. 1613― Hen. VIII, v. iii. 97 Receiue him, And see him safe i' th' Tower. 1618Bolton Florus iii. x. (1636) 204 Cæsar was at this time absent out of Gallia;..and so the wayes cloyed up, they presumed hee was fast and safe enough. 1667Milton P.L. ix. 815 And other care perhaps May have diverted from continual watch Our great Forbidder, safe with all his Spies About him. 1678R. L'Estrange Seneca's Mor., Epist. v. (1696) 490 When the Snake is Frozen, 'tis safe. 18..Nursery Rhyme, ‘Three children sliding on the ice’, Ye parents that have children dear,..If you would have them safe abroad, Pray keep them safe at home.
Prov.1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 173 Drie sunne, drie winde, Safe binde, safe finde. [Cf. fast adv. 2, quot. 1596.]
11. a. Sure in procedure; not liable to fail, mislead, or disappoint expectation; trustworthy; spec. in Cricket. b. Cautious, keeping to ‘the safe side’. Also in proverbial phr. better (to be) safe than sorry.
1604Shakes. Oth. ii. iii. 205 My blood begins my safer Guides to rule. 1667Milton P.L. xi. 372 Ascend, I follow thee, safe Guide, the path Thou lead'st me. 1678Cudworth Intell. Syst. i. iii. §37. 24 (1820) I. 367 That safe and sure⁓footed interpreter, Alex. Aphrodisius. 1823Lady's Mag. July 387/1 Samuel Long..is..so steady a [cricket] player! so safe! 1851J. Pycroft Cricket Field x. 185 The safest pair of hands in England. 1887A. Birrell Obiter Dicta Ser. ii. 46 As a master of style and diction, Milton is as safe as Virgil. 1894Daily News 3 May 5/3 The first [hymnal] is described by Canon Twells as being generally acceptable to high churches, the second to low churches, and the third to intermediate, ‘sometimes called safe churches’. 1897K. S. Ranjitsinhji Jubilee Bk. Cricket ii. 18 ‘A safe field’..signifies that the fielder may be relied upon to stop hits that come within reasonable distance of him, and to hold practically all catches. 1975Oxf. Compan. Sports & Games 648/2 A bulky left-handed batsman of safe and unspectacular method.
Prov. [1837S. Lover Rory O'More ii. xxi. 148 ‘Jist countin' them,—is there any harm in that?’ said the tinker: ‘it's betther be sure than sorry’.] 1933Radio Times 14 Apr. 125/1 Cheap distempers very soon crack or fade. Better be safe than sorry. Ask for Hall's. 1958[see lightship]. 1962A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio vii. 120 For tapes that are to be broadcast it is better to be safe than sorry. 1972J. Wilson Hide & Seek vii. 128 It's not that I want to shut you in...But—well, it's better to be safe than sorry.
c. to play safe: see play v. 18 f.
12. a. With of: Sure to obtain. ? Obs.
1667Pepys Diary 23 Aug., I find most people pleased with their being at ease, and safe of a peace. 1802Southey La Caba 3 Here I stand, Safe of my purpose now! 1846Thackeray Let. 9 Feb. (MS.), What I meant by ‘Safe’ is the best word to be applied to a play I think—safe of a real agreeable—of course I don't know how permanent—success.
b. to be safe, followed by inf. or † const. for, is predicated of a person or thing to express the certainty of the fact or event involved in the predication.
Hence used attrib. in colloquial phrases like ‘He is a safe first’ = he is safe to take a first class.
1790Grose Prov. Gloss. (ed. 2) Suppl., ‘He is safe enough for being hanged.’ Cumb. 1852Smedley L. Arundel xxvii. 204 Society had better shut up shop at once, for it's safe to be ‘uprooted from its very foundations’. 1860G. J. Whyte-Melville Mkt. Harb. 107 He'll win it, as safe as safe! 1865F. Oakeley Hist. Notes 46 If..you had happened to enter any common-room in Oxford..you would have been safe to hear some ten or twenty voices eloquent on the subject of Tract 90. 1874G. J. Whyte-Melville Uncle John viii. I. 225 The foreign horse was safe to win the Two Thousand. 1882B. M. Croker Proper Pride i. vii. 137, ‘I am sure a man never sent it,’ said Helen. ‘I'm sorry to say it of my own sex, but it's safe to be a woman’. 1894‘J. S. Winter’ Red Coats 50 You know the Colonel is as safe as houses to come round after church parade.
†c. ? Certain, established as fact, not to be called in question.
1788Priestley Lect. Hist. i. i. 14 For want of acquaintance with history, we are apt to pronounce a priori many things to be impossible, which in fact really exist, and are very safe.
†13. quasi-n. in safe (OF. en sauf): in a safe place, in safety. with safe: with safety, safely. Obs. rare.
c1430Pilgr. Lyf Manhode i. xvii. (1869) 13 Þe official turned him, and bar with him þe oynementes, and putte hem in saaf. 1569Preston Cambises E 3 b, If I with safe may graunt this deed, I will it not refuse.
14. Special collocations. safe area, during the war of 1939–45, an area not liable to be attacked or invaded; safe deposit (orig. U.S.), a place in which valuables are stored; also attrib.; safe edge, (a) a smooth edge of a file; hence safe-edge, -edged adjs.; (b) Photogr. (see quot. 1891); Safehand, safe(-)hand, applied attrib. and absol. to a variety of courier services available for confidential documents; also as adv.; safe hit Baseball (see quot. 1895); safe house, a place of refuge or rendezvous for those wanted by the authorities, engaged in spying, etc.; safe lamp, lantern, light, † (a) a safety-lamp; (b) Photogr., a translucent filter for use on a dark-room light, coloured according to the sensitivity of the materials used; also, a lamp that produces such a dim, coloured light; so safe-lighting vbl. n., -lighted, -lit ppl. adjs.; safe load, a load which leaves a required margin of security against causing breakage or injury to a structure (cf. safety 6); safe period, the part of the menstrual cycle during which conception is least likely; safe seat Pol., a parliamentary seat which is likely to be retained at an election with a large majority; safe-tray = safe n. 3.
1944Ourselves in Wartime 175 The threat of invasion, and the air-blitz of 1940–1941 over London and the provinces stimulated evacuation afresh... Many thousands of children were removed to *safe areas, and..over 620,000 children were settled in reception areas. 1944Daily Tel. 11 July 2 Married couple wanted. Safe area (Alva, Scotland).
1783J. Huntington in Sparks Corr. Amer. Rev. (1853) iv. 27 West Point..may be made a *safe deposit where every military article may be kept in good order and repair. 1880W. Newton Serm. Boys & Girls (1881) 338, I went down into the vaults of one of our great safe-deposit buildings. 1882Century Mag. Mar. 769/1 They did not ask for the key of the safe-deposit box, or for other evidence. 1886Encycl. Brit. XXI. 145/1 The public safes or safe-deposits erected in most of the great cities of America and in London. 1970K. Roos What did Hattie See? x. 92 You don't give a dame a key to your safe deposit box.
1846Holtzapffel Turning etc. II. 821 Some files have one or more edges that are left uncut, and these are known as *safe-edges, because such edges are not liable to act upon those parts of the work against which they are allowed to rub,..The safe-edge file is principally required in making a set-off, or shoulder [etc.]. 1891Anthony's Photogr. Bull. IV. 66 The negative to be printed from, should have an opaque border, called a safe edge, about a quarter of an inch wide made around it.
1884F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 230 *Safe Edged File.
1947Ld. Mountbatten Let. 12 June in India Office Rec. 1450 GG 43 Coll. I. p. 31 Please follow it up with the letter, which should be sent by *safehand of pilot. 1965‘W. Haggard’ Hard Sell xi. 113 The rumblings from London..had ceased with a Safehand letter from the Minister. 1975N. Luard Robespierre Serial iv. 16 Delivered safe-hand by courier eight months before, the letter stated briefly that Darley had been approached by an individual who's indicated he might be interested in political asylum. Ibid. 17 A second safe-hand letter had arrived.
1867Ball Player's Chron. 6 June 2/3 Flagg afterward made his base by a *safe hit. 1895G. J. Manson Sporting Dict. 98 Safe Hits, this term is applied to high balls sent from the bat with just force enough to carry them over the head of the infields, but not far enough out for the outfielders to catch. 1897Encycl. Sport I. 77/2 Immediately the batsman hits a fair ball, he endeavours to get to first base... He may get there on a safe hit made by the succeeding batsman. 1963J. Joesten They call it Intelligence i. iv. 44 A so-called ‘*safe house’..is usually a piece of extra-territorial property owned by a particular embassy. 1969H. MacInnes Salzburg Connection xv. 212 So that is what it was: a safe house. They could shelter several people here..while new passports and identities were being faked. 1979H. Kissinger White House Years xxi. 889 A seedy little apartment in an old brownstone that the CIA had used as a safehouse.
1815Davy Let. 30 Oct. in Paris Life (1831) II. 82, I trust the *Safe lamp will answer all the objects of the collier. 1968Gloss. Terms Offset Lithogr. Printing (B.S.I.) 11 Safelamp, a lamp providing light of a spectral composition to which a photographic material is relatively or completely insensitive. 1978Amateur Photographer 2 Aug. 131/1 With a 150-watt enlarger lamp, two 25-watt lamps in the safelamps and a 60-watt lamp in the illuminator there is no risk of overload.
1815Davy in Phil. Trans. CVI. 12 The first *safe lantern that I had constructed, was made of tin-plate, and the light emitted through four glass plates in the sides.
1816Ibid. 23, I have already had the honor of communicating to the Royal Society an account of a *safe light. 1903A. Payne Pract. Orthochrom. Photogr. 90 Red sensitive plates..may be used with a safe light. 1932Discovery Sept. 292/1 These infra-red plates are..easy to manipulate in the dark room with a lamp screened by a greenish yellow safe-light filter. 1976J. McClure Rogue Eagle vi. 98 If..he'd had the orange safe-light turned on..the film would have fogged instantly. 1977J. Hedgcoe Photographer's Handbk. 51 These features make the paper convenient to handle in an orange *safe-lighted darkroom. Ibid. 39 Printing papers and films intended for copying black and white originals have this sensitivity, allowing the use of bright orange *safe-lighting. 1979Amateur Photographer 10 Jan. 75/1 Electronic timers are far more accurate than relying on peering at your watch in a *safelit darkroom.
1868Humber Strains in Girders 67 Breaking and *Safe Loads for Bridges, Girders, etc. 1908Daily Tel. 30 Jan. 15/4 This particular chain was certified..as being capable of standing a strain of three tons, so that its ‘safe’ load was 1½ ton.
1918M. Stopes Wise Parenthood iv. 31 Some people..may find the comparative security of a ‘*safe period’ sufficient. 1923― Contraception ii. 14 The proper form of contraceptive must be one available at any time by the pair: and so the ‘safe period’ often advocated by those who pose as moralists is not satisfactory. 1934Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 10 Feb. 452/2 The woman determines her ‘safe period’ on the basis of her shortest cycle, and also of her longest cycle. The overlapping ‘safe days’ constitute her ‘safe period’. 1936C. G. Hartman Time of Ovulation in Women xviii. 183 There is an absolute Safe Period for the monkey female. Ibid. xix. 192 Announcement of failures of the Safe Period is a daily occurrence. 1956A. Huxley Adonis & Alphabet 284 In the kind of society which has the most urgent need of birth control, the Safe Period Method is almost useless. 1971Petticoat 17 July 6/3 The safe period should more correctly be known as the safer period. You are less likely to conceive then, but that is all. 1976Winter's Crimes 8 180 The so-called safe period won only limited approval... She couldn't let herself be pregnant.
1891W. Fraser Disraeli & his Day 491 A material element in the future of Constitutional Government is the non-existence of *safe seats. 1939W. I. Jennings Parliament ii. 27 The influence of a great landowner... May Secure nomination by the local Conservative association and so enable the person nominated to acquire a safe seat. 1974Times 13 Feb. 4/6 Redistribution can make a safe seat marginal.
1886Encycl. Brit. XXI. 715/2 Under most plumbing fixtures it is usual to place a *safe-tray to receive any water accidentally spilt. 1912G. Thomson Mod. Sanitary Engin. xvi. 142 When built-up baths were in use, safe trays were an indispensable part of the installation.
15. a. Comb., as † safe-bestowing, † safe-maker, † safe-making (where ‘safe’ is objective); safe-borne, safe-buttressed, safe-enshrined, safe-going, safe-marching, safe-moored, safe-sequestered, safe-swung ppl. adjs. (where ‘safe’ is quasi-adv.).
1575in Feuillerat Revels Q. Eliz. (1908) 254 Putting in order and *safebestowinge of the garmentes.
1896Kipling Seven Seas 38 Average fifteen hunder souls *safe-borne fra' port to port.
1918G. Frankau One of Them xxxii. 249 O Empire thrice and four times blessed by Fate, *Safe-buttressed on ten thousand O.B.E.s! 1926W. de la Mare Memory in Kipling & de la Mare St. Andrews, Keeps she for me, then, *safe-enshrined—Cold of the north—those bleached grey streets.
1874Trollope Way we live Now (1875) I. xlvii. 296 In this *safe-going country young men perhaps are not their own masters till they are past thirty.
1643Trapp Comm. Gen. xlix. 10 Others render Shiloh, Tranquillator, Salvator, The *Safe-maker, The Peace-maker.
1579W. Wilkinson Confut. Fam. Love 13 Their ministration is the *safemaking ministration.
1755J. N. Scott Ess. Transl. Homer's Wks. 3 *Safe-marching through the Camp.
1831Carlyle Sart. Res. iii. xii, *Safe-moored in some stillest obscurity.
1725Pope Odyss. v. 561 Some smooth ascent, or *safe-sequester'd bay. 1930R. Campbell Poems 17 Safe-sequestered in some rural glen.
1900Kipling in Century Mag. Jan. 407 *Safe-swung above the glassy death.
†b. In verbal phrase used subst.: see quot. Obs.
c1640J. Smyth Lives Berkeleys (1883) I. 96 He hath letters of safe come, safe goe, and safe staye for five dayes.
¶ vouch..safe, safe vouch: see vouchsafe.
▸ slang (orig. S. Afr.). Good, excellent; okay, all right. Also as int.
An element of the more specific senses ‘trustworthy’ or ‘not dangerous’ is often still present in this sense.
1970in Dict. S. Afr. Eng. on Historical Princ. (1996) (at cited word), Wow, that new dance is safe... A safe band is playing at the jeet tonight. 1974J. Matthews Park (1983) 25 Orkas looked up at her and smiled. ‘Jammie say yer my number forra five-titty’, Orkas said. ‘Safe?’ 1976Darling (Durban) 29 Sept. Give me a safe ensemble and a new hairstyle..and I can slay the ou's with the rest of them. 1981Fair Lady (Cape Town) 9 Sept. A circle made with the forefinger and thumb and accompanied by a conspiratorial wink is obligatory when saying ‘Safe, my mate!’ 1991Sunday Tel. 8 Sept. 10/8 Pc Johnson, the popular local policeman, is chatting to some of the boys. ‘He's safe [all right]’, says 20-year-old David Davies. ‘Most of them are. It's just when they bring the specials from Reading and Swindon.’ 1999A. Wheatle Brixton Rock 188 ‘Yeah. I have to go back inside for a pen so I can write down my phone number.’ ‘Yeah, safe.’
▸ safe bet n. a near certainty; an option or course of action involving little or no risk.
1846Albion (N.Y.) 30 May 259/1 It would be a *safe bet at any hour of the day between ten and five o'clock, that you would in walking the streets see one or more females standing thus at the windows of more than half the houses. 1959Sunday Times 20 Dec. 21/1 It is a safe bet that Festivallers can now count on hearing some recent works of Britten. 1971P. G. Wodehouse Much Obliged, Jeeves vii. 69, I go in mostly for who-dun-its and novels of suspense. For the who-dun-it Agatha Christie is always a safe bet. 2003J. Gelfer Little Bk. Student Bollocks 6 Appearing slightly mysterious and remote in the face of social try-hards will always be a safe bet.
▸ safe sex n. orig. U.S. (a) a substitute for or alternative to sexual activity (in later use with conscious reference to sense safe edge n. (b) at Special uses 2); (b) (also safer sex) sexual activity in which the risk of unplanned pregnancy or (in later use esp.) of contracting a sexually transmitted infection (esp. HIV) is minimized, typically by using a barrier method of contraception or by avoiding penetrative sex.
1968H. Sebald Adolescence ix. 225 Analytical observers concluded that this type of dancing was ‘*safe sex’ for the teen-agers. 1973Family Planning Perspectives 5 6 The great majority of satisfied customers are romanticists who link vasectomy to positive feelings about the certainty of ‘safe sex’. 1983Health Lett. 15 Oct. (insert) Safer sex: a presentation from people with AIDS. 1990Health Educ. Jrnl. 49 203/2 Purists would object to the phrase ‘safe sex’, as today we err on the side of caution and refer to it as ‘safer sex’. 1993J. Green It: Sex since Sixties 1 Celibacy, the very epitome of ‘safe sex’. 1999M. Silcott Rave Amer. vi. 167 One of the craziest ironies of the AIDS fundraising circuit has been that it is such an unconducive environment for the promotion of safe sex.
▪ III. safe, v.
[f. safe a.]
†a. trans. To render safe or secure. Also, to conduct safely out of. Obs.
1602Marston Ant. & Mel. iv. H j b, Deare Lord, what means this rage, when lacking vse: Scarce safes your life, will you in armour rise? 1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. i. iii. 55 My more particular, And that which most with you should safe my going, Is Fuluias death. Ibid. iv. vi. 26 Best you saf't the bringer Out of the hoast. c1611Chapman Iliad v. 112 Thus he brau'd, and yet his violent shaft Strooke short with all his violence, Tydides life was saft. Ibid. vii. 285 At which we will erect Wals, and a raueling, that may safe, our fleet and vs protect.
b. intr. and trans. In Mountaineering, to belay. Also const. up. Hence ˈsafing vbl. n.
1940Tararua Tramper July 6 The real uses for alpine work may be divided into three: Step-cutting, ‘safing’ (by which I mean anchoring or belaying), and control during descent. a1945E. R. Eddison Mezentian Gate (1958) xxxviii. 202, I am sick..of for ever climbing mountains safed with a dozen ropes held by a dozen safe men. 1960M. Redgrove in Pick of Today's Short Stories XI. 194 His mountain-sense stabbed a quick reproach and he dragged his attention back to safing Creade up. 1969Word Study Apr. 6/1 To avoid having any unused explosive going off in the faces of members of the post-recovery team, the capsule must be disarmed or safed. 1972New Scientist 14 Dec. 645 ‘Safing’ procedures were now being carried out by the astronauts while Launch Control itself tried to identify the cause of the cut-off. 1974‘J. le Carré’ Tinker, Tailor xxv. 215 We tossed them agents we could do without, we gave them good communications, safed their courier links. |