hold harmless en · ADJ
Etymology
From to hold someone harmless.
Meanings
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(not-comparable) Describing an agreement or contract where one party assumes all liability resulting from it, thus making the agreement "harmless" for the other party.
The first is a hold harmless agreement—a legal contract that limits or transfers liabilities between two parties. Like insurance, you usually have to make a hold harmless agreement before a liability occurs.
2001, It's All Your Fault!, Silver Lake Pub., →ISBN, page 253:a hold harmless clause
The indemnify language is the "indemnity clause" (covering liabilities to third parties) and the hold harmless is the "exculpatory clause" (releasing first-party liability—this is, so that the hold harmless phrase releases a wrongdoing indemnitee where indemnify would not have this effect).
2011, Bryan A. Garner, Garner's Dictionary of Legal Usage, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 445:An authority tow law described under Virginia Statute Section 46.2-1212.1, entitled "Authority to provide for removal and disposition of vehicles and cargos of vehicles involved in accidents," contains a hold harmless provision under Part B of the law.
2003, Walter M. Dunn, Steven P. Latoski, National Cooperative Highway Research Program, Safe and Quick Clearance of Traffic Incidents, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, →ISBN, page 3-: