safen

English

Etymology

safe + -en

Verb

safen (third-person singular simple present safens, present participle safening, simple past and past participle safened)

  1. (transitive) To make safe.
    • 2002, Malachy Doyle, Georgie, page 12:
      She used to safen me when I was smaller, when I came here first. Her long, dark hair was my hiding place from the outside world.
    • 2016, Kathryn Stockett, The Help, page 189:
      I take a deep breath because his knowing Cora Blue seems to safen things up a little.
  2. (transitive) To protect a crop from injury from a herbicide by adding a safener.

Derived terms

Further reading

  • safen” in Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary.

Anagrams

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