Definitions for fail-safe
fail-safe
fail-safe
Spelling: [feyl-seyf]
IPA: /ˈfeɪlˌseɪf/
Fail-Safe is a 9 letter English word.
It's valid Scrabble word worth 7 points.
It's valid Words with friends word worth 8 points.
You can make 172 anagrams from letters in fail-safe (-aaeffils).
Definitions for fail-safe
noun
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(sometimes initial capital letter) the point beyond which the bombers cannot go without specific instruction; the fail-safe point.
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something designed to work or function automatically to prevent breakdown of a mechanism, system, or the like.
adjective
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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.
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equipped with a secondary system that insures continued operation even if the primary system fails.
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(sometimes initial capital letter) of, relating 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.
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guaranteed to work; totally reliable:
verb (used with object)
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to make fail-safe.
Origin of fail-safe
First recorded in 1945-50; apparently from verb phrase to fail safe(ly)
Examples for fail-safe
For example, at Three Mile Island, a fail-safe feature actually made the meltdown worse.
Internally, the communications beam to Thule Base had been interrupted; and the fail-safe had not failed-safely.
So as we lurch toward the next “fail-safe” milestone, there must be a way out for both sides.
My Social Chef recommends the perfect, fail-safe roast chicken recipe.