safety

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)The condition or feeling of being safe; security; certainty.

   “If you push it to the limit, safety is not guaranteed.”

   “He managed to reach the border and escape to safety.”

   “Oh, oh! “Go to safety”! Why didn’t I think of that⁉ Here I am in danger when, really, I could simply be going to safety! I shouldn’t have wasted your time by calling in the first place!”

2. (countable, uncountable)A safety lock or safety catch: a mechanism on a weapon or dangerous equipment designed to prevent accidental firing or operation.

   “Be sure that the safety is set before proceeding.”

3. (countable, uncountable)Preservation from escape; close custody.

   “[…] imprison him, […] / Deliver him to safety; and return,”

4. (countable, uncountable)An instance of a player being sacked or tackled in the end zone, or stepping out of the end zone and off the field, resulting in two points to the opposite team.

   “He sacked the quarterback in the end zone for a safety.”

5. (countable, uncountable)Any of the defensive players who are in position furthest from the line of scrimmage and whose responsibility is to defend against passes as well as to be the tacklers of last resort.

   “The free safety made a game-saving tackle on the runner who had broken past the linebackers.”

6. (countable, uncountable)A safety squeeze.

   “Boy wondered about that bunt. He had a notion Fowler would commit himself soon because time was on the go. But Fowler didn’t, making it another sweep of three Pirates. He had thus far given up only two safeties.”

7. (countable, uncountable)A safety shot or sequence of such shots.

   “That was a poor safety from Higgins.”

   “After thirty minutes of safety, Selby finally potted a red, to ironic cheers.”

8. (countable, dated, uncountable)A safety bicycle.

   “Many wheelmen and wheelwomen, riding safeties, tandems and tricycles, stopped there during the evening and we had good opportunity for comparing American and English bicycles […]”

   “There are cyclists, like Mr. F. T. Bidlake, who prefer a tricycle to a safety, and to such men a long ride on a tricycle is no more fatiguing than a safety bicycle ride of the same distance.”

verb

1. (transitive)To secure (a mechanical component, as in aviation) to keep it from becoming detached even under vibration.
2. to secure a firing pin, as in guns, to keep the gun from firing

   “Time went back to normal for him; he safetied his own weapon and dropped it, jumping forward.”

   “Osborne lay propped up on one elbow, his pistol cocked, his aim wavering in the general direction the man had gone. Finally he safetied it, stuffed it in the holster on his right hip, and reached for his cell phone in his jacket pocket. But it was gone.”