safety netn.

1840 Mech. Mag. 31 Jan. 315/1 An objection has been made to my safety net,..that if many persons descend the pit,..a net sufficiently large to envelope the whole of them..would..be inconvenient to manage.

1888 Ballou's Monthly Mag. Aug. 120/2 Jake used to suggest..having..a gymnastic performance on the one trapeze; then he would insist on having a safety-net underneath us.

1905 Pop. Mech. June 614/2 Above the river..swings the great traveling safety-net or cradle, which is to catch workmen and tools should either fall from that giddy height above.

1938 Pop. Mech. Dec. 892/2 Part of their training includes the proper way to fall into a safety net that is held up by other firemen on the street.

2000 K. F. Haven Super Simple Storytelling 57 The crowd..gasped and squealed at each death-defying leap and spin. But if they fell, a safety net was there to catch them.

1877 E. Yates Celebrities at Home 1st Ser. xxi. 265 This telegraphic safety-net, by means of which each station of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade is brought into connection with every other station, and the whole Brigade could..be concentrated on any one spot in an incredibly short space of time.

1906 B. Runkle Truth about Tolna vi. 118 The glamour of the honeymoon has to fade... Then you want a safety-net to tumble into from the heights. Money is about the best thing I know to break the fall.

1953 Economist 11 July 87/1 A genuine flexibility..is compatible with the security..of ‘safety net’ prices that would protect the farmer against serious losses.

1971 Guardian 29 July 11/6 An open invitation..to let costs rise in expectation of a taxpayers' safety net.

1988 Country Life 9 June 288/3 The [National] Trust regards itself as an ultimate safety-net for country houses.

2004 F. F. Padró Statist. Handbk. Social Safety Net i. 1/1 Welfare (or a derived equivalent) makes up a significant component of any social safety net.