foolproof
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]- IPA(key): /ˈfuːl ˌpɹuːf/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Adjective
[edit]foolproof (comparative more foolproof, superlative most foolproof)
- Of a device: protected against, or designed to be proof against, misuse or error.
- Of an idea or plan: certain to succeed in all eventualities, or claimed to be so; infallible.
- 1960 July 11, Harper Lee, chapter 15, in To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC:
- Dill had hit upon a foolproof plan to make Boo Radley come out at no cost to ourselves (place a trail of lemon drops from the back door to the front yard and he’d follow it, like an ant).
- 2021 June 1, Marie-Dominique, “‘Throw the ingredients together with reckless abandon!’: Guardian readers on their tastiest foolproof bakes”, in The Guardian[1], archived from the original on 3 July 2021:
- My foolproof recipe is my gâteau fermière.
- 2022 January 24, Allan Jenkins, Molly Tait-Hyland, “The 20 best easy dinner recipes – every one simple and delicious”, in The Guardian[2], archived from the original on 9 March 2022:
- From Nigella Lawson’s effortless spaghetti with Marmite to Chetna Makan’s foolproof chicken curry – the recipes to turn to when you want easy but tasty suppers
Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit](device) fail-safe
|
(plan) infallible
|
Verb
[edit]foolproof (third-person singular simple present foolproofs, present participle foolproofing, simple past and past participle foolproofed)
- (transitive) To render (something) foolproof.
- We foolproofed the operations.
Further reading
[edit]- “foolproof”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.