better safe than sorry

better safe than sorry idiom
Being careful may avoid disaster, as in I'm not taking any short-cuts—better safe than sorry. This cautionary phrase appeared as better sure than sorry in 1837.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Comments
Improve this definition.
Do you have more to add? Share your linguistic knowledge or observation.
/Register to save your comments.