From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englisherr on the side of somethingerr on the side of somethingCAREFULto be more careful or safe than is necessary, in order to make sure that nothing bad happens It’s always best to err on the side of caution. → err
Examples from the Corpus
err on the side of something• Voltaire's work is, arguably, offensive but one should err on the side of allowing it to be available.• It is understandable for health authorities to err on the side of caution, as these guidelines will not apply to everyone.• Typically, Burgess says, forecasters err on the side of caution by issuing a severe storm warning.• The therapist should always err on the side of caution; the hypotheses set up are merely shrewd guesses.• But travel agents are urging their clients to err on the side of caution.• And so he negotiated with himself, and sometimes tortured himself, and he erred on the side of generosity.• Therefore, if the first two arguments were correct, it would be better to err on the side of generosity.• We should err on the side of restraint, rather than of excess. 