Definition of precautionnext
as in safeguard
a measure taken to preclude loss or injury as parents of young children, they have taken the usual precaution of locking up their household cleansers

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of precaution People who use the assistant should configure permissions carefully, though as Aten’s experience suggests, that precaution only goes so far. — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 2 Oct. 2026 Payton Fuller, spokesperson for Marshall, told The Star this is a standard precaution. — Eleanor Nash, Kansas City Star, 1 Oct. 2026 Monks and nuns take more stringent precautions to avoid harming creatures, even accidentally. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Sep. 2026 Thirty years of collaboration seems to have freed her from some precautions. — Olivier Bouchara, Vanity Fair, 30 Sep. 2026 See All Example Sentences for precaution
Recent Examples of Synonyms for precaution
Noun
  • Meanwhile, some safeguards were easy to turn off or circumvent.
    — Ella Chakarian, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026
  • In 2023, Anthropic published the first version of its Responsible Scaling Policy, a document that laid out precise thresholds for when a model’s capabilities became dangerous enough to require additional safeguards.
    — Kevin Roose, Vanity Fair, 7 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • In addition to making anti-vaccine comments, Kennedy also downplayed pediatric deaths related to measles and touted false cures and preventives, such as the use of vitamin A.
    — Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 8 June 2026
  • Padlocks, sickles and other objects made of iron, a metal said to possess anti-demonic powers, were stashed in the grave as preventives.
    — Franz Lidz, New York Times, 5 Sep. 2023
Noun
  • The series follows devoted single mother Anna (Haggard) and her headstrong teenage daughter Maya (Ramsey), as they are forced into witness protection to escape danger.
    — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 8 Oct. 2026
  • In an interview with CNBC Sport on September 10 in Australia, Commissioner Roger Goodell emphasized the league wants stronger protections before entertaining the possibility of a tie up with the new markets.
    — Contessa Brewer, CNBC, 8 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • This caution is surprising in a writer who has elsewhere been fearless about identity and America, attentive to the country’s institutional capacity to humiliate, compromise, and implicate the people who claim it.
    — Zain Khalid, Vulture, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Layoffs are low but caution is high Layoff activity hasn’t picked up speed, according to the Labor Department’s weekly reports on unemployment insurance filings.
    — Alicia Wallace, CNN Money, 1 Oct. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Precaution.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/precaution. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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