Definitions for fail-safe
Random House Webster's College Dictionary
fail′-safe`(adj.)
equipped with a secondary system that ensures continued operation even if the primary system fails.
Category: Electronics
denoting a system of safeguards in which bombers may not proceed past a prearranged point or nuclear weapons may not be armed without direct orders.
Category: Military
guaranteed to work; totally reliable.
Category: Common Vocabulary
(n.)a fail-safe mechanism, system, or the like.
Category: Common Vocabulary
Origin of fail-safe:
1945–50
Princeton's WordNet
fail-safe(adj)
a mechanism capable of returning to a safe state in case there is a failure or malfunction
fail-safe(adj)
guaranteed not to fail
"a fail-safe recipe for cheese souffle"
fail-safe(adj)
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"
Wiktionary
fail-safe(Noun)
A fail-safe device or mechanism.
fail-safe(Verb)
To compensate automatically, in the event of a failure.
fail-safe(Adjective)
That doesn't cause undue damage, in the event of failure.
The system is failsafe, because everything is backed up automatically.
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