Noun
a valve in a container in which pressure can build up (as a steam boiler); it opens automatically when the pressure reaches a dangerous level
Source: WordNetPeople should have an escape valve for their money, their assets. If you have substantial financial assets, the government is going to confiscate the purchasing power of those assets and spend it. Peter Schiff
The United Nations continues to sense as the forum where nations whose interests clash may lay their cases before world opinion. It still provides the essential escape valve without which the slow build-up of pressures would have long since resulted in catastrophic explosion. Haile Selassie