safety-valve

Syllables: safe·ty-valveUK/ˈseɪftɪˌvælv/US/ˈseɪftiˌvælv/

safety-valve verb: to use a relief valve on (a container holding a gas or vapour) to relieve excessive pressure which has built up inside. Also the alternative form of safety valve.

Verb

safety-valve (third-person singular simple present safety-valves, present participle safety-valving, simple past and past participle safety-valved)

(transitive) To use a relief valve on (a container holding a gas or vapour) to relieve excessive pressure which has built up inside.
(transitive) To install a relief valve on (such a container) for that purpose.
(figuratively, transitive) To use some mechanism to relieve (physical or emotional pressure or tension).

Also used as

safety-valve is also the alternative form of safety valve.

Forms of safety-valve

Verb
third-person singular present	safety-valves
present participle	safety-valving
past participle	safety-valved
past	safety-valved
alternative form	safety valve
Noun
plural	safety-valves

Origin of safety-valve

From safety valve (noun).

See safety valve.

Questions about safety-valve

What does safety-valve mean?: Safety-valve means to use a relief valve on (a container holding a gas or vapour) to relieve excessive pressure which has built up inside.
What part of speech is safety-valve?: Safety-valve is a verb.
How do you pronounce safety-valve?: Safety-valve is pronounced /ˈseɪftɪˌvælv/ (UK).
What is the past tense of safety-valve?: The past tense of safety-valve is safety-valved.

Words near safety-valve in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: safety-valve (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “safety-valve.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/safety-valve. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.