0 a word said by someone to a partner during sex when the sex becomes too rough, to show that they want to stop, especially in BDSM (= sex that involves, for example, tying a partner up, or giving and receiving pain for pleasure): --
For some reason best known to sadomasochists themselves, popular safe words include "pickle" and "radish", apparently.
A safe word lets your partner know that they need to stop what they're doing and check in with you.
In the American BDSM subculture, three safe words are widespread.