cover one's bases
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
To prepare for all possibilities to avoid mistakes or criticism
chuẩn bị cho tất cả khả năng để tránh sai lầm hoặc chỉ trích
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Examples
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “cover one's bases” mean?
To prepare for all possibilities to avoid mistakes or criticism Literally: to physically cover all areas of a baseball field
Is “cover one's bases” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.