salvage
Americannoun
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the act of saving a ship or its cargo from perils of the seas.
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the property so saved.
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compensation given to those who voluntarily save a ship or its cargo.
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the act of saving anything from fire, danger, etc.
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the property so saved.
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the value or proceeds upon sale of goods recovered from a shipwreck, fire, etc.
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the act of saving something of use or value from destruction, damage, ruin, loss, or waste.
The salvage of carcass parts for pharmaceutical or research use is permitted if it does not interfere with sanitary operations.
verb (used with object)
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salvages,
present (3rd person singular)
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salvaged,
past participle, past
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salvaging
present participle
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to save or rescue (property) from shipwreck, fire, or other peril.
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to save from destruction, damage, ruin, or loss.
A new achievement was the only way to salvage his reputation.
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to preserve (a useful or valuable part) from something otherwise wasted, discarded, or deemed a failure: I tried to salvage the unburnt part of the cornbread.
We purchase end-of-life vehicles and salvage scrap metal.
I tried to salvage the unburnt part of the cornbread.
The team has a chance to salvage some degree of glory from a dismal season.
noun
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the act, process, or business of rescuing vessels or their cargoes from loss at sea
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the act of saving any goods or property in danger of damage or destruction
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( as modifier )
a salvage operation
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the goods or property so saved
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compensation paid for the salvage of a vessel or its cargo
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the proceeds from the sale of salvaged goods or property
verb
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to save or rescue (goods or property) from fire, shipwreck, etc
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to gain (something beneficial) from a failure
she salvaged little from the broken marriage
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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salvagesimple
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salvagessimple
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have salvagedperfect
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has salvagedperfect
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am salvagingprogressive
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are salvagingprogressive
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is salvagingprogressive
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have been salvagingperfect progressive
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has been salvagingperfect progressive
Past
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salvagedsimple
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had salvagedperfect
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was salvagingprogressive
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were salvagingprogressive
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had been salvagingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of salvage
First recorded in 1635–45; from Old French; see origin at save 1, -age
Explanation
To salvage something is to save it...before it's too late. You might try to salvage your damaged reputation by defending yourself, or salvage a burnt piece of toast by scraping off the black residue. As a noun salvage is the act of rescuing stuff from a disaster like a shipwreck or fire — or the rescued goods themselves. As a verb, salvage means to collect or rescue that sort of item, or more generally to save something from harm or ruin. If you want to salvage your grade, you need to stop gaming so much and start studying more.
Vocabulary lists containing salvage
Esperanza Rising
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This Week in Words: September 29 - October 5, 2018
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The Cay
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In response, the project posted on social media that it had given its "best efforts to salvage" the partnership.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
He could salvage his reputation following his infamous vote for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He could, in short, live a little bit.
From Slate ● Aug. 8, 2026
In New York, the labor of salvage acquired a literary form.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
The Lauensteins, who spent years scouring architectural salvage sites for items including wrought iron, hardware, lighting and doors to decorate their home, largely stewarded the transformation, with occasional guidance from interior designers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
As if she were one of the boss men who came down to watch the work and paid out cash bonus for good salvage.
From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi
“Destitute of all comfort and company,” he salvages what he can from the wreckage.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 9, 2026
Baltimore’s Recreation and Parks Department salvages wood from city trees and redirects it to Camp Small, a city-run processing facility, where it’s used in city construction or sold to residents.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 3, 2022
Holland eventually chooses to use his power for Good, and not for Evil, and in doing so salvages the sacrosanct purity and moral reputation of Marvel superheroes.
From Salon ● May 5, 2022
“Of course, she’s at least going to make it to the finish. This could just be the medal that salvages everything after all. Right now I just feel like a joke.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 17, 2022
He salvages the inferior Soviet equipment, milled from marginal steel, clumsily soldered; it’s all so unsystematic.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
At the time, campaigns were a sideline for Reilly, who supported himself selling doodads and other salvaged wares in a movable flea market he operated on Fisherman’s Wharf.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
Steve Bradley, operations director with Jevington Logistics, estimated there would be a total of 110 tonnes of steel salvaged from the "well-built" ship while speaking from a tugboat as the dismantling work continued nearby.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
But she's confident her house can be salvaged.
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
Not that the script could have been salvaged by better acting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
“Looks like something the cabin boy could’ve salvaged from a shipwreck!” exclaimed Grace.
From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein
Over the past few years, individual investors have coalesced into a market-moving force, upending hedge-fund bets, salvaging struggling companies and sending favored stocks straight to the moon.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
The British king's state visit was officially meant to mark the US-UK alliance in the anniversary year but has ended up being more about salvaging the so-called "special relationship."
From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026
"Their aim has to be salvaging the season by qualifying for the Champions League with a top-four or perhaps top-five finish - but that's a big drop-off from what we saw last season," added Shearer.
From BBC ● Jan. 24, 2026
Mark Joseph Stern: I think anyone who cares about salvaging American democracy needs to be asking those exact questions.
From Slate ● Dec. 26, 2025
Dad was too stubborn to shut it down, even though it cost him more to have his foreman salvaging than it would have cost him to cut the iron with torches.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
