fail-safe

fail-safe

[feyl-seyf] adjective, noun, verb, fail-safed, fail-saf·ing.
adjective
1.
Electronics. pertaining to or noting a mechanism built into a system, as in an early warning system or a nuclear reactor, for insuring safety should the system fail to operate properly.
2.
equipped with a secondary system that insures continued operation even if the primary system fails.
3.
( sometimes initial capital letter ) of, pertaining to, or designating a system of coded military controls in which bombers dispatched to a prearranged point as part of a standard operating procedure cannot advance farther without direct orders from a designated authority and cannot have the nuclear warheads they carry armed until they have passed their prearranged point.
4.
guaranteed to work; totally reliable: a fail-safe recipe for a cheese soufflé.
noun
5.
( sometimes initial capital letter ) the point beyond which the bombers cannot go without specific instruction; the fail-safe point.
6.
something designed to work or function automatically to prevent breakdown of a mechanism, system, or the like.
00:10
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chat, to converse
verb (used with object)
7.
to make fail-safe.

Origin:
1945–50; apparently from verb phrase to fail safe(ly)

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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World English Dictionary
fail-safe
 
adj
1.  designed to return to a safe condition in the event of a failure or malfunction
2.  (of a nuclear weapon) capable of being deactivated in the event of a failure or accident
3.  unlikely to fail; foolproof
 
vb
4.  (intr) to return to a safe condition in the event of a failure or malfunction

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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