A safety net is something that you can rely on to help you if you get into a difficult situation.
Welfare is the only real safety net for low-income workers. [+ for]
2. countable noun
In a circus, a safety net is a large net that is placed below performers on a high wire or trapeze in order to catch them and prevent them being injured if they fall off.
safety net in British English
noun
1.
a net used in a circus to catch high-wire and trapeze artistes if they fall
2.
any means of protection from hardship or loss, such as insurance
safety net in American English
1.
a net suspended as beneath circus aerialists to catch them if they fall
2.
any protection against failure or loss
Examples of 'safety net' in a sentence
safety net
You get the safety net of village life without the claustrophobia.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
And yes, the importance of a welfare safety net when times get tough.
The Sun (2016)
Like income protection insurance, it offers a financial safety net against ill health.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Now, that safety net is gone.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
In other languages
safety net
British English: safety net NOUN
A safety net is something that you can rely on to help you if you get into a difficult situation.
Welfare is the only real safety net for low-income workers.