pre·serve

[pri-zurv] verb, pre·served, pre·serv·ing, noun
verb (used with object)
1.
to keep alive or in existence; make lasting: to preserve our liberties as free citizens.
2.
to keep safe from harm or injury; protect or spare.
3.
to keep up; maintain: to preserve historical monuments.
4.
to keep possession of; retain: to preserve one's composure.
5.
to prepare (food or any perishable substance) so as to resist decomposition or fermentation.
6.
to prepare (fruit, vegetables, etc.) by cooking with sugar, pickling, canning, or the like.
7.
to maintain and reserve (game, fish, etc.) for continued survival or for private use, as in hunting or fishing.
verb (used without object)
8.
to preserve fruit, vegetables, etc.; make preserves.
9.
to maintain a preserve for game or fish, especially for sport.
00:10
Preserved is always a great word to know.
So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
noun
10.
something that preserves.
11.
that which is preserved.
12.
Usually, preserves. fruit, vegetables, etc., prepared by cooking with sugar.
13.
a place set apart for protection and propagation of game or fish, especially for sport.

Origin:
1325–75; Middle English preserven < Medieval Latin praeservāre to guard (Late Latin: to observe), equivalent to Latin prae- pre- + servāre to watch over, keep, preserve, observe

pre·serv·a·ble, adjective
pre·serv·a·bil·i·ty, noun
pres·er·va·tion [prez-er-vey-shuhn] , noun
pre·serv·er, noun
non·pre·serv·a·ble, adjective
non·pres·er·va·tion, noun
sem·i·pre·served, adjective
un·pre·serv·a·ble, adjective
un·pre·served, adjective


1. conserve. 2. safeguard, shelter, shield. See defend. 3. continue, uphold, sustain.


1. destroy.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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World English Dictionary
preserve (prɪˈzɜːv) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
vb
1.  to keep safe from danger or harm; protect
2.  to protect from decay or dissolution; maintain: to preserve old buildings
3.  to maintain possession of; keep up: to preserve a façade of indifference
4.  to prevent from decomposition or chemical change
5.  to prepare (food), as by freezing, drying, or salting, so that it will resist decomposition
6.  to make preserves of (fruit, etc)
7.  to rear and protect (game) in restricted places for hunting or fishing
8.  (intr) to maintain protection and favourable conditions for game in preserves
 
n
9.  something that preserves or is preserved
10.  a special area or domain: archaeology is the preserve of specialists
11.  (usually plural) fruit, etc, prepared by cooking with sugar
12.  areas where game is reared for private hunting or fishing
 
[C14: via Old French, from Late Latin praeservāre literally: to keep safe in advance, from Latin prae- before + servāre to keep safe]
 
pre'servable
 
adj
 
preserva'bility
 
n
 
pre'servably
 
adv
 
preservation
 
n
 
pre'server
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

preserve
late 14c., from O.Fr. preserver, from M.L. preservare "keep, preserve," from L.L. præservare "guard beforehand," from L. præ- "before" + servare "to keep safe" (see observe). The noun sense of "fruit preserved with sugar" is from c.1600; that of "protected place
for animals or plants" (a sense more properly belonging to conserve) is from 1807. Preservationist "advocate of protecting historic property" is recorded from 1927. Preservative (adj.) is attested from late 14c.; the noun sense of "chemical added to foods to keep them from rotting" is from 1875.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

preserved definition


  1. mod.
    alcohol intoxicated. (See also pickled.) : He drank a quart of vodka and is totally preserved.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Example sentences
The creatures swam in temperate seas and sank to the ocean floor after they
  died, where their bodies were preserved in soft mud.
With other words it can be preserved if the conditions are preserved.
And magnetic resonance imaging showed that caloric restriction preserved
  gray-matter volume in the brain as the monkeys aged.
Even the leaders of the non-profit community preserved an optimistic
  perspective.
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