free safety

noun

: a safety in football who has no particular receiver to cover in a man-to-man defense

Examples of free safety in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
On the next play, Martin and free safety Tao Johnson rushed the passer. — Aaron Heisen, Daily News, 21 Apr. 2026 Canady projects as either a slot cornerback or a free safety at the next level and is worth a late Day 2 or 3 pick. — Antwan Staley, New York Daily News, 14 Apr. 2026 The score ranked 729 out of 1,311 free safeties tested going back to 1987. — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 30 Apr. 2026 Bryant, Seattle’s starting free safety for the last year and a half, signed a $40 million contract with the Chicago Bears in March. — Michael-Shawn Dugar, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for free safety

Word History

First Known Use

1958, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of free safety was in 1958

Rhymes for free safety

See All Rhymes for free safety

Browse Nearby Words

free run
free safety
free sample
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Free safety.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/free%20safety. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of gambol

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All