fail-safe

I

noun

a mechanism capable of returning to a safe state in case there is a failure or malfunction

• Hypernyms: ↑mechanism

II

adjective

1. guaranteed not to fail

-

a fail-safe recipe for cheese souffle

• Similar to: ↑secure

2. eliminating danger by compensating automatically for a failure or malfunction

-

a fail-safe device in a nuclear weapon to deactivate it automatically in the event of accident

• Similar to: ↑safe

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fail-safe «FAYL _SAYF», adjective, verb, -safed, -saf|ing. or failed-, fail|ing-.

–adj.

1. having a built-in safety device that is automatically activated to protect the operator from injury or its parts from damage, in case of power failure or malfunction of some part of the machine: »

A fail-safe reel brake prevents accidental spilling of tape in case of power failure (Science News). The authority said that subway trains were equipped with a fail-safe device that halts the train automatically if the brakes fail (New York Times).

2. guaranteed no to fail; safe from failure; foolproof: »

A master plan was worked out, beautifully turned and fail-safe on paper (Manchester Guardian Weekly).

–v.i.

to stop or alter an operation automatically in case of some malfunction or power failure: »

Those with gas central heating will have cursed the irony of a system which fails-safe when the electrical power supply is severed (Anthony Tucker).

–v.t.

to make or cause to be fail-safe.

╂[< Fail Safe]

Fail Safe,

a procedure of the U.S. Strategic Air Command in which a bomber may not proceed toward its target beyond a certain point until a final affirming order has been issued: »

And even beyond Fail Safe point and all the way to bomb-drop point, the war order can be reversed and the aircraft called home (Time).

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1.

adj. causing a piece of machinery or other mechanism to revert to a safe condition in the event of a breakdown or malfunction

a forklift with a fail-safe device

■ unlikely or unable to fail

the computer that runs the place is supposed to be fail-safe

2.

n. [usu. in sing.] a system or plan that comes into operation in the event of something going wrong or that is there to prevent such an occurrence

the secondary safety system is indeed a fail-safe

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/ˈfeılˌseıf/ adj [more \fail-safe; most \fail-safe]

: certain not to fail

Of course, no system is entirely fail-safe.

He was looking for a fail-safe source of money.

a fail-safe device/mechanism [=a device/mechanism that will not break]

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ˈfail-safe [fail-safe] adjective usually before noun

(of machinery or equipment) designed to stop working if anything goes wrong

•

a

fail-safe device/mechanism/system