fail-safe

1. That does not cause undue damage in the event of failure.

   The system is failsafe, because everything is backed up automatically.

2. Designed to shut off for safety if an emergency occurs.

   All equipment is, of course, of "fail-safe" pattern.

   1961 February, “Talking of Trains: Automated trains in New York”, in Trains Illustrated, page 78

plural fail-safes

1. A device, mechanism or measure designed to make something fail-safe.

present singular third person fail-safes · participle present fail-safing · participle past fail-safed · past fail-safed · alternative fail safe

1. To compensate automatically, in the event of a failure.
2. To make a device or mechanism fail-safe, or to add a fail-safe device or mechanism to an existing system.