He got tired as the game went on, and began to play safe.
Tom didn't know what the other driver would do, so he played it safe and stopped his own car.
Словарь американских идиом. — СПб., Изд-во "Лань". Оригинал: A.Маккей, М.Т.Боткер, Дж.И.Гейтс. 1997.
play (it) safe — phrase to avoid taking any risks It’s probably OK to eat them raw, but it’s best to play it safe by cooking them. Thesaurus: to avoid risks or dangersynonym Main entry: play * * * play (it) ˈsafe … Useful english dictionary
play it safe — play (it) safe ► to decide not to take risks: »The federal government often plays it safe by funding research that is likely to succeed but may have only a slight impact. »The biggest companies usually play safe and hire top legal firms from… … Financial and business terms
play it safe — play (it) safe informal to be careful and not take risks. We decided to play safe and paint the walls a fairly neutral colour. They re playing it safe by not investing too much money until they ve seen the first year s accounts … New idioms dictionary
play it safe — ► play (or play it) safe avoid taking risks. Main Entry: ↑play … English terms dictionary
play it safe — [v] be cautious avoid risk, be on the safe side, hedge one’s bets*, take no chances, take precautions; concepts 401,403 … New thesaurus
play (it) safe — avoid taking risks. → play … English new terms dictionary
play it safe — to avoid any risk. I like to play it safe with my investments. Once you have the ball, you can decide whether you want to be aggressive or play it safe … New idioms dictionary
play it safe — verb To take a cautious, risk free approach. Deciding to play it safe, he joined his fathers accounting firm rather than pursue an acting career … Wiktionary
play it safe — be careful, do not take a chance Play it safe when you go out in a boat. Wear a life jacket … English idioms
play it safe — be careful, act cautiously … English contemporary dictionary
