Definition of "safety net" []

• A large net for catching one that falls or jumps, as from a circus trapeze. (noun)
• A guarantee, as of professional, physical, or financial security: the safety net of a generous pension plan. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "By the time Clinton left office, it appeared as if some equilibrium had been achieved-a smaller government, but one that retained the social safety net FDR had first put into place."
• "She imagined being tumbled back the short distance into the safety net of deep squashy cushions, crushed into the softness by that lithe, hard body, dominated and controlled by his clever hands, which had already slipped under her T-shirt to explore her bare back and the satin smoothness of her seamless bra."