Definition

Noun: A secure and secret location, typically a house or apartment, used to provide shelter, protection, and concealment for individuals who need to hide from danger, persecution, or surveillance. It is often associated with intelligence operations, witness protection, or underground political movements.

Usage

A "safe house" is used as a temporary refuge. It is a specific, physical location kept secret to ensure the safety of its occupants. - The intelligence agents moved the defector to a safe house outside the city. - During the conflict, the organization maintained several safe houses for its members.

Advanced Usage

• To establish/set up a safe house: To create and prepare a location to function as a secure refuge.
  • The network worked to establish a new safe house along the escape route.
• Safe house network: A system of multiple safe houses coordinated together.
  • They relied on an elaborate safe house network to move people across the border.

Variants and Related Words

• Safe haven (n): A broader term for any place of refuge or safety, not necessarily a house and not always secret (e.g., a country offering asylum).
• Sanctuary (n): A place of refuge or safety, often with a religious or legal connotation.
• Bolt-hole (n, informal): A place where someone can escape and hide.

Synonyms

• Refuge
• Hideout
• Shelter
• Haven

Related Phrases

• To go to ground: To hide, especially in a safe house or secret location.
  • After the leak, the informant had to go to ground in a safe house.
• To be in safe keeping: To be protected in a secure place.
  • The documents are in safe keeping at one of our safe houses.

Noun

1. a house used as a hiding place or refuge by members of certain organizations