Meanings
- informalnot comparableTo provide for a possible event as a precaution.
I'll take an umbrella, just in case.
Synonyms: to be on the safe side
- To provide for the possible event that.
I'll take an umbrella, just in case it rains.
2 more examples
1629, Roger Williams et al., The Correspondence of Roger Williams, Brown University Press (reprinted 1988, →ISBN), page 204, Dudley and his council "gave no credit to these suspicions" but decided to strengthen the colony's defenses just in case the rumors turned out to be true.
1981, John H. G. Pell, "General George Washington's Visit to Fort Ticonderoga in July 1783", Bulletin of the Fort Ticonderoga Museum, Volume XIV, Number 1, Summer 1981, Fort Ticonderoga Museum, page 260, Throughout 1782 and most of 1783 there was a mixture of defacto [sic] peace but preparedness for war just in case it should be resumed, a sort of cold war.
Synonyms: in the event that
- human sciencesSynonym of if and only if.
The negation of a disjunction is true just in case both disjuncts are false.
Synonyms: if and only if
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbTo provide for a possible event as a precaution.
conjunctionTo provide for the possible event that.
conjunctionSynonym of if and only if.
More synonyms by meaning
adverbif there happens to be need
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Arabic تَحَسُّبًا
- تَحَسُّبًا (taḥassuban)to be on the safe side
Basque badaezpada, badaezpada ere
- badaezpadato be on the safe side
- badaezpada ereto be on the safe side
Bulgarian за всеки случай
- за всеки случай (za vseki slučaj)to be on the safe side
Catalan per si de cas
- per si de casto be on the safe side
Chinese Mandarin 以防萬一 /以防万一
- 以防萬一 /以防万一 (yǐfángwànyī)to be on the safe side
Czech kdyby něco, pro jistotu
- kdyby něcoto be on the safe side
- pro jistotuto be on the safe side
- co kdybyto be on the safe side
Dutch voor de zekerheid
- voor de zekerheidto be on the safe side
Esperanto divenprove
- divenproveto be on the safe side
Finnish varalta
- varaltato be on the safe side
French au cas où, par acquit de conscience
- au cas oùto be on the safe side
- par acquit de conscienceto be on the safe side
- au cas oùto provide for the possible event that — see also in case
German für alle Fälle, nur für den Fall
- für alle Fälleto be on the safe side
- nur für den Fallto be on the safe side
- sicherheitshalberto be on the safe side
- vorsichtshalberto be on the safe side
Greek για κάθε ενδεχόμενο
- για κάθε ενδεχόμενο (gia káthe endechómeno)to be on the safe side
Hungarian a biztonság kedvéért, (csak) arra az esetre, ha
- a biztonság kedvéértto be on the safe side
- (csak) arra az esetre, hato provide for the possible event that — see also in case
Japanese 念のため
- 念のためto be on the safe side
Korean 만약을 위해
- 만약을 위해 (manyag-eul wihae)to be on the safe side
Lithuanian dėl viso pikto
- dėl viso piktoto be on the safe side
Māori kei tūpono
- kei tūponoto be on the safe side
Norwegian Bokmål for sikkerhets skyld, bare i tilfelle
- for sikkerhets skyldto be on the safe side
- bare i tilfelleto be on the safe side
Polish na wszelki wypadek, w razie czego
- na wszelki wypadekto be on the safe side
- w razie czegoto be on the safe side
Portuguese por precaução, por via das dúvidas
- por precauçãoto be on the safe side
- por via das dúvidasto be on the safe side
Russian на вся́кий слу́чай, на вся́кий пожа́рный слу́чай
- на вся́кий слу́чай (na vsjákij slúčaj)to be on the safe side
- на вся́кий пожа́рный слу́чай (na vsjákij požárnyj slúčaj)to be on the safe side
- на вся́кий пожа́рный (na vsjákij požárnyj)to be on the safe side
- в слу́чае е́сли (v slúčaje jésli)to provide for the possible event that — see also in case
- на слу́чай е́сли (na slúčaj jésli)to provide for the possible event that — see also in case
- вдруг (vdrug)to provide for the possible event that — see also in case
- а то́ ма́ло ли (a tó málo li)to provide for the possible event that — see also in case
- не дай бог (ne daj bog)to provide for the possible event that — see also in case
Spanish por si acaso, por si las moscas
- por si acasoto be on the safe side
- por si las moscasto be on the safe side
- por si acasoto provide for the possible event that — see also in case
- por sito provide for the possible event that — see also in case
Swedish bara utifall att, bara i fall att
- bara utifall attto provide for the possible event that — see also in case
- bara i fall attto provide for the possible event that — see also in case
Ukrainian про всяк випа́док
- про всяк випа́док (pro vsjak vypádok)to be on the safe side
Cite this entry
just in case. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/just%20in%20case
“just in case.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/just%20in%20case. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “just in case,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/just%20in%20case.
Source: just in case on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.