Meanings
safety valve1
nounsafety valve (plural safety valves)
plural safety valves · alternative safety-valve
- A valve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc. (such as a boiler or pressure cooker), would burst, thus reducing the pressure; a relief valve.
Spun glass mattresses are used for lagging the boiler, which has three Ross pop safety valves on the front ring.
1941 April, “British Locomotive Developments”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1731 more example
[A]nd to show that there was no shortage of steam, Royal Scot, directly we stopped, blew off vigorously from its safety-valves steam that well might have been used in the cylinders in the interest of timekeeping.
1959 April, Cecil J. Allen, “Locomotive Running Past and Present”, in Trains Illustrated, London: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 185 - figurativelyAny mechanism offering relief from physical or emotional pressure or tension.
1 more example
[…] I have often thought that it was a great error in our legislature when they consented to put down the public lotteries in England. I am convinced that they were beneficial, acting as safety-valves to the gambling spirit of the nation, and that their prohibition has been productive of much crime and misery.
1840, F[rederick] M[arryat], “Diary on the Continent. Chapter XIX.”, in Olla Podrida. […], volume I, London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longmans, […], →OCLC, pages 205–206- USfigurativelylawA United States law, codified at 18 United States Code §3553(f), authorizing a judge to disregard mandatory minimum sentences for some criminals with few or no prior offenses.
1 more example
Hernández additionally requested that he be given a two-level safety-valve reduction pursuant to U.S.S.G. § 5C1.2, which mitigates the harsh effect of mandatory minimum sentences on certain first-time offenders who played only supporting roles in drug-trafficking schemes and who provided testimony about their involvement in the criminal activity.
2020 June 30, David Jeremiah Barron, Circuit Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, “United States v. Hernández-Hernández”, in Federal Reporter […] (No. 19-1123), volume 964, St. Paul, Minn.: West Publishing Co., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 02 Jul 2023, page 100
safety valve2
verbsafety valve (third-person singular simple present safety valves, present participle safety valving, simple past and past participle safety valved)
present singular third person safety valves · participle present safety valving · participle past safety valved · past safety valved · alternative safety-valve
- alternativeAlternative form of safety-valve.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAny mechanism offering relief from physical or emotional pressure or tension.
nounA United States law, codified at 18 United States Code §3553(f), authorizing a judge to disregard mandatory minimum sentences for some criminals with few or no prior offenses.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna valve in a container in which pressure can build up (as a steam boiler); it opens automatically when the pressure reaches a dangerous level
Similar
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Afrikaans veiligheidsklep
- veiligheidsklepvalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
Arabic صمام أمان
- صمام أمانvalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
Bulgarian предпазен вентил
- предпазен вентил (predpazen ventil)valve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
Catalan vàlvula de seguretat, vàlvula d'alleujament
- vàlvula de seguretatvalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
- vàlvula d'alleujamentvalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
- vàlvula d'alleujament de pressióvalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
Chinese Mandarin 安全閥 /安全阀
- 安全閥 /安全阀 (ānquánfá)valve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
Czech pojistný ventil
- pojistný ventilvalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
Danish sikkerhedsventil
- sikkerhedsventilvalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
Dutch veiligheidsklep, veiligheidsventiel
- veiligheidsklepvalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
- veiligheidsventielvalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
Finnish varoventtiili, paineenpitoventtiili
- varoventtiilivalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
- paineenpitoventtiilivalve set to close a container holding a gas or vapour to prevent excessive loss of pressure
- vähimmäisrangaistuksen sivuuttamisen salliva lakiUnited States law authorizing a judge to disregard mandatory minimum sentences for some criminals with few or no prior offenses
- purkautumiskeinomechanism offering relief from physical or emotional pressure or tension
French soupape de sécurité, soupape de décompression
- soupape de sécuritévalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
- soupape de décompressionvalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
- soupape d'échappementvalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
German Sicherheitsventil
- Sicherheitsventilvalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
Hebrew שסתום בטיחות
- שסתום בטיחותvalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
Hungarian biztonsági szelep, biztosítószelep
- biztonsági szelepvalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
- biztosítószelepvalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
Italian valvola di sicurezza, valvola di emergenza
- valvola di sicurezzavalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
- valvola di emergenzavalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
Japanese 安全弁
- 安全弁 (anzenben)valve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
Lithuanian apsauginis vožtuvas
- apsauginis vožtuvasvalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
Norwegian Bokmål sikkerhetsventil
- sikkerhetsventilvalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
Persian شیر ایمنی
- شیر ایمنیvalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
Polish zawór bezpieczeństwa, wentyl
- zawór bezpieczeństwavalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
- wentylmechanism offering relief from physical or emotional pressure or tension
- wentyl bezpieczeństwamechanism offering relief from physical or emotional pressure or tension
Portuguese válvula de segurança, válvula de escape
- válvula de segurançavalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
- válvula de escapevalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
- válvula de alívio de pressãovalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
- válvula de escapemechanism offering relief from physical or emotional pressure or tension
Romanian supapa de siguranță
- supapa de siguranțăvalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
Russian предохрани́тельный кла́пан
- предохрани́тельный кла́пан (predoxranítelʹnyj klápan)valve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
Spanish válvula de seguridad, válvula de alivio
- válvula de seguridadvalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
- válvula de aliviovalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
- válvula de alivio de presiónvalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
- válvula de escapevalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
Swedish säkerhetsventil
- säkerhetsventilvalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
Turkish emniyet supabı
- emniyet supabıvalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
Ukrainian запобі́жний кла́пан
- запобі́жний кла́пан (zapobížnyj klápan)valve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
Vietnamese van an toàn
- van an toànvalve set to open at a pressure below that at which a container holding a gas, vapour, etc., would burst, thus reducing the pressure
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with safety valve
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
safety valve. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/safety%20valve
MLA
“safety valve.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/safety%20valve. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “safety valve,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/safety%20valve.
Source: safety valve on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.