conserve

[kuhn-surv, kon-surv, kuhn-surv]

verb (used with object)

conserved, conserving 

1. to prevent injury, decay, waste, or loss of.

   Conserve your strength for the race.

2. to use or manage (natural resources) wisely; preserve; save.

   Conserve the woodlands.

   Synonyms: safeguard, husband

3. Physics, Chemistry.,  to hold (a property) constant during an interaction or process.

   the interaction conserved linear momentum.

4. to preserve (fruit) by cooking with sugar or syrup.

noun

1. Often conserves. a mixture of several fruits cooked to jamlike consistency with sugar and often garnished with nuts and raisins.

conserve

verb

1. to keep or protect from harm, decay, loss, etc

2. to preserve (a foodstuff, esp fruit) with sugar

noun

1. a preparation of fruit in sugar, similar to jam but usually containing whole pieces of fruit

Other Word Forms

• conserver noun
• nonconserving adjective
• self-conserving adjective
• unconserved adjective
• unconserving adjective
• well-conserved adjective
• conservable adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of conserve¹

First recorded in 1325–75; (for the verb) Middle English, from Latin conservāre “to save, preserve”; equivalent to con- + serve; (for the noun) Middle English, from Middle French conserve, noun derivative of conserver, from Latin, as above

Word History and Origins

Origin of conserve¹

(vb) C14: from Latin conservāre to keep safe, from servāre to save, protect; (n) C14: from Medieval Latin conserva, from Latin conservāre

Example Sentences

"Once you get it moving, it isn't hard at all - people are pulling with one arm. It conserves energy, and it moves really quickly," said Lipo.

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Pynchon may not have lost a step in “Shadow Ticket,” but sometimes he seems to be conserving his energy.

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For example, he said, it won’t let them know if there is a more conserving option, or another location with more water available.

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Indeed, panicking that the past, thin as it is, is slipping away in the rush to bucks, L.A. struggles to conserve notable buildings that are a mere 50 years old.

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Steers has vowed to try to stop Moon Camp from moving forward, and is exploring the possibility of trying to buy the land — with a local land trust — and conserve it.

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Related Words

• hoard 
• maintain 
• preserve 
• safeguard 
• sustain 
• take care of