Meanings
present singular third person safekeeps · participle present safekeeping · participle past safekept · past safekept
- transitivebusinessTo keep safe; to preserve from harm or loss.
If a customer wants $1 million of General Motors Acceptance Corporation (GMAC) paper, the bank carries out the transaction between the customer and GMAC and safekeeps the paper for the customer until it matures.
1983, Marcia L. Stigum, Rene O. Branch, Managing bank assets and liabilities1 more example
During the mid-1960s, Federal Reserve officials focused on developing institutional arrangements that would facilitate the conversion to book-entry form of definitive securities already safekept at Reserve Banks; they did not address the possibility of a larger system.
2003, Federal Reserve Bank of New York Economic Policy Review
Origin
Back-formation from safekeeping.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
safekeep. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/safekeep
“safekeep.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/safekeep. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “safekeep,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/safekeep.
Source: safekeep on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.