fail safe
Automatic protective fallback
Fail-safe describes a system designed so that if something goes wrong, it defaults to a safe condition rather than a dangerous one.
A fail-safe mechanism in a nuclear reactor shuts it down if cooling fails.
The term extends beyond engineering: We need a fail-safe in case the plan doesn't work.
As a noun, a fail-safe is such a backup measure.
The hyphen is often dropped: failsafe.
- stopCease all motion
- emergency brakeSecondary vehicle stopping mechanism
- backupStored duplicate for recovery
- blockSolid mass, or impede
- escape hatchEmergency exit opening
dead man's switch · secure · redundancy · fault tolerance · belt and suspenders · contingency plans · last resort · nuclear option · bullet-proof · reliability · alarm · firewall · airbag · protection · unerring · switch · circuit breaker · panic button
fail saferisky
Involving possible harm
reckless · hazardous · accident-prone · unprotected · high-risk