Security Blanket Definition & Meaning

American

British

Idioms

Etymology

Examples

Synonyms security blanket American

noun

1. a blanket or other familiar item carried especially by a young child to provide reassurance and a feeling of psychological security.

2. someone or something that gives a person a sense of protection or a feeling of security.

   His wealthy uncle is his security blanket.

security blanket British

noun

1. a policy of temporary secrecy by police or those in charge of security, in order to protect a person, place, etc, threatened with danger, from further risk

2. a baby's blanket, soft toy, etc, to which a baby or young child becomes very attached, using it as a comforter

3. informal anything used or thought of as providing reassurance

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 security blanket Idioms

1. Something that dispels anxiety, as in I always carry my appointments calendar; it's my security blanket. This colloquial term, dating from about 1960, was at first (and still is) used for the blanket or toy or other object held by a young child to reduce anxiety.

Etymology

Origin of security blanket

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

When I was very small, I had, as many children do, a security blanket known as “Blankie.”

From Los Angeles Times

Thompson: It was a security blanket, isn’t it?

From Los Angeles Times

He crushed the cloth under his fingers like a security blanket.

From Literature

The Hurricanes punished him all night, sometimes legally, sometimes questionably, but he stayed composed, turning to unheralded receiver Charlie Becker as a security blanket.

From The Wall Street Journal

Only then, under the bright fluorescents, did he let the lighter go out, clutching it like a security blanket.

From Literature

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.