to be on the safe side

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to be safe; to be cautious; [to do something just] in case it is necessary; to be very well prepared. To be on the safe side, carry some extra money in your shoe. I like to be on the safe side and stay in my hotel room at night.

See also: safe, side

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Fagin looked so very much in earnest, that Charley Bates, who deemed it prudent in all cases to be on the safe side, and who conceived it by no means improbable that it might be his turn to be throttled second, dropped upon his knees, and raised a loud, well-sustained, and continuous roar--something between a mad bull and a speaking trumpet. Oliver Twist Or The Parish Boy's Progress by Dickens, Charles View in context --Whether he had asked her pardon for his intrusion on first coming into the room, he could not recollect; but determining to be on the safe side, he made his apology in form as soon as he could say any thing, after taking a chair. Sense and Sensibility by Austen, Jane View in context "'Guess it's best to be on the safe side," he murmured at last. Captains Courageous by Kipling, Rudyard View in context			tip off tip over tip the balance tip the scales tip the scales at tip the wink tip up tip with tire tire of tire out tired tit tit-for-tat tits and ass tittle-tattle tizzy to a fault to a fine art to a great extent to a man to a tee to advantage to all intents and purposes to and fro to be on the safe side to be safe to be said for to be sneezed at to beat the band to begin with to boot to call own to cap it all to coin a phrase to credit to cut a long story short to date to death to die for To each his own to each own To err is human to face to go to have a hollow leg to have the hots for to heart's content to hell and gone to hell with to liking			To Be Nominated To Be Numbered To be of acquaintance To be of opinion To be off To be off color To be off one's food To be off one's rocker To be off the hinges To be on a foundation To be on edge To be on foot To be on her beam ends To be on one's back To be on short commons To be on speaking terms To be on the anvil To be on the carpet To be on the defensive To be on the fence To be on the mending hand To be on the move To be on the qui vive To be on the rack to be on the safe side To be on the stretch To be on the tenters To be on the watch To be one flesh To be one's own man To be one's own master To be one's own mistress To Be or Not to Be To Be Or Not To Be That Is The Question To Be Ordered To be out at the heels To be out of her reckoning To be out of one's head to be paid To Be Perfectly Frank To Be Perfectly Freaking Honest To Be Perfectly Honest To be pleased in To be pleased to do a thing to be precise to be precise To Be Printed To Be Produced To Be Proposed To Be Provided/Published

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