What is "safety catch"

Safety \Safe"ty\, n. [Cf. F. sauvet['e].]

1. The condition or state of being safe; freedom from danger or hazard; exemption from hurt, injury, or loss.

   Up led by thee, Into the heaven I have presumed, An earthly guest . . . With like safety guided down, Return me to my native element.
   --Milton.

2. Freedom from whatever exposes one to danger or from liability to cause danger or harm; safeness; hence, the quality of making safe or secure, or of giving confidence, justifying trust, insuring against harm or loss, etc.

   Would there were any safety in thy sex, That I might put a thousand sorrows off, And credit thy repentance!
   --Beau. & Fl.

3. Preservation from escape; close custody.

   Imprison him, . . . Deliver him to safety; and return.
   --Shak.

4. (Amer. Football) the act or result of a ball-carrier on the offensive team being tackled behind his own goal line, or the downing of a ball behind the offensive team's own goal line when it had been carried or propelled behind that goal line by a player on the offensive tream; such a play causes a score of two points to be awarded to the defensive team; -- it is distinguished from touchback, when the ball is downed behind the goal after being propelled there or last touched by a player of the defending team. See Touchdown. Same as Safety touchdown, below.

5. Short for Safety bicycle. [archaic]

6. a switch on a firearm that locks the trigger and prevents the firearm from being discharged unintentionally; -- also called safety catch, safety lock, or lock. [archaic]

n. A latching device that prevents accidental activation of a dangerous event, an interlock. Colloquially shortened to just a safety.

n. guard consisting of a locking device that prevents a weapon from being fired [syn: safety lock]

Safety Catch is a sitcom on BBC Radio 4 created by Laurence Howarth and written by Howarth and John Finnemore. The series was first broadcast in 2007. It is about Simon McGrath (played by Darren Boyd), a man who works in a job that he does not like – the arms trade. The show mocks issues of morality, although Howarth claims that the show is not satirical. Because of the subject matter and the light-hearted way it is treated, the series is one of Radio 4's most controversial. A second series was broadcast in April 2009.

Safety Catch is a 1970 French thriller film directed by Yves Boisset and starring Bruno Cremer. The film is based on the novel A Private Venus by Giorgio Scerbanenco.