security blanketn.
/sᵻˈkjʊərᵻtɪ ˌblaŋkɪt/, /sᵻˈkjɔːrᵻtɪ ˌblaŋkɪt/, U.S. /səˈkjʊrədi ˌblæŋkət/ 1. A set of all-enveloping or all-encompassing security measures and sanctions, esp. one imposed on military information in order to maintain secrecy.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > safety > [noun] > safety or security > security of the interests of the state, etc. > that which maintains
security blanket1944
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > keeping from knowledge > [noun] > making obscure > that which conceals or obscures > to provide security
security blanket1944
1944 Dothan (Alabama) Eagle 4 Sept. 1/8 Reports being issued at Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower's headquarters sometimes were as much as 48 hours behind the armies because of a security blanket thrown over the operations.
1955 New Yorker 5 Feb. 88/2 The size of the Regular Army is under a security blanket at present.
1966 Appl. Statistics 15 242 Some agencies wrapped their own developments in a security blanket, fearful lest they should seem to overclaim but thus stifling discussion.
1972 Times 13 Sept. 8/8 At Heathrow where there was a tight security blanket on information it was learnt that the crew were staying at the Europa Hotel.
1985 Times 11 Apr. 10 Interest in fusion as a source of energy was stifled in the 1940s and early 1950s by the security blanket on all nuclear work.
2009 Guardian (Nexis) 9 Nov. 37 Details of the recovery operation [of a submarine]..are still subject to a security blanket,..so there are different accounts of what ensued.
2. Originally U.S. A small blanket or other soft fabric item held or carried by a child to afford reassurance by its familiarity. Also in extended use: anything that offers comfort, reassurance, or a sense of security.Widely popularized by the American cartoonist Charles M. Schulz (1922–2000) in the comic strip ‘Peanuts’, featuring a boy named Linus who carries a cot blanket for comfort.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pleasure > freedom from trouble, care, or sorrow > [noun] > something which reassures
comfort blanket1908
blankie1921
transitional object1951
security blanket1954
Linus blanket1958
lovey1969
1954 Daily Rev. (Hayward, Calif.) 29 Nov. 4 Security blanket. My younger child is one year old. When..she finds a fuzzy blanket..or a fleecy coat she presses her cheek against it and sucks her thumb.
1956 C. M. Schulz Good Grief, More Peanuts 25 (caption) This is a ‘security and happiness’ blanket...All little kids carry them.]
1965 Salt Lake Tribune 20 Feb. a12 ‘Permissive’ young parents who let their children carry around security blankets until they are old enough to go to high school.
1971 Newsweek 19 July 48/1 Deferred-admissions plans—a sort of security blanket that prospective students can carry with them during a year's sabbatical.
1973 Ladies' Home Jrnl. Dec. 102 A worn, torn, one-eyed teddy bear about a foot long was my ‘security blanket’.
2001 R. Dawkins in Devil's Chaplain (2003) iv. 179 Those led by reason to eschew the security blanket of irrational superstition have always been challenged.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1944