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margin of safety

margin of safety

1 4.5
An extra amount beyond the minimum to keep something safe
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : margen de seguridad
  • Having a healthy margin of safety in your finances can help you feel more secure during tough times.
  • an adequate margin of safety
  • an ample margin of safety
  • provide a margin of safety

That is how much data you need to actually have a realistic margin of error or margin of safety in your statistics.

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Examples

  • In addition, Section 109(b)(1) expressly instructs the EPA to establish the NAAQS to provide "an adequate margin of safety" to protect human health.

    Academic text (1996)
  • It'll be close but there's still a margin of safety.

  • And most important, more than twice the amount of fuel we expect to use, to keep well within the margin of safety.

  • A margin of safety can be important because sometimes the water level in a pool may be lower than normal.

    Academic text (2004)
  • So we have to have a price that makes sense and gives a margin of safety considering the natural vicissitudes of life.

  • All decks are designed with wide margins of safety and to perform elastically when hit by a wave.

    Academic text (2007)
  • Keep in mind with all these approaches that it's smart to give yourself a solid margin of safety—some wiggle room.

    Blog text (31)
  • The study reports that "approximately 10 percent of women have mercury levels within one tenth of potentially hazardous levels, indicating a narrow margin of safety for some women and supporting efforts to reduce methyl mercury exposure."

    Academic text (2002)
  • To ensure everyone is protected, we built the bridge with a large margin of safety for unexpected forces.

  • The engineers ensured there was a sufficient margin of safety in the design to account for potential errors.

Synonyms

margin
vsmargin of safety
226 3.9

An extra amount left for safety or small mistakes

is narrower, meaning specifically the excess beyond the minimum to ensure safety or prevent failure
margin of error
vsmargin of safety
  • Specialized
27 4.2

An amount that shows how much a number or result may be wrong

is a practical excess beyond the minimum to prevent failure rather than a calculated bound
margin for error
vsmargin of safety
11 3.7

Space that allows small mistakes without big problems

is a deliberate excess above required safety to prevent failure rather than allow small mistakes
safety margin
vsmargin of safety
1 3.7

An extra amount people keep to allow for errors and prevent harm

is the alternative word order used for the same extra allowance

Antonyms

3.0

To do something that may cause harm or lead to loss

Surface Forms

Morphology

margin + of + safety

The meaning is directly and predictably derived from 'margin' (an allowance) combined with 'safety' (protection), with 'of' marking the relationship; a learner who knows both words can infer an allowance for safety. This compositional pattern is cross-linguistically common (e.g. Spanish 'margen de seguridad'), so a B1 learner should be able to understand the MWE without prior exposure.

Etymology

Margin of safety comes from the simple picture of an extra space, a margin, put around something for safety. That's why margin of safety now means 'an extra amount' added to protect against mistakes or failure.