life preserver
Americannoun
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a buoyant jacket, belt, or other like device for keeping a person afloat.
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British Slang. a weapon, especially a short stick with a weighted head; blackjack.
noun
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a club or bludgeon, esp one kept for self-defence
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a life belt or life jacket
Etymology
Origin of life preserver
First recorded in 1630–40
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.
I let myself play the victim twice — first of the debt itself, then of the life preserver tossed to bring me back onboard.
From Salon ● May 11, 2025
Maybe, but Celine Dion wasn’t about to throw them a life preserver.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2024
Standing next to the wreckage on the beach, a reporter for Italian RAI state TV noted a life preserver bearing the word “Smyrna,” a Turkish port also known as Izmir.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 26, 2023
What’s the likelihood of those owners giving Skipper Dan a financial life preserver with new investors?
From Washington Times ● Nov. 3, 2022
Mrs. Cranston, bigger than he, in a gigantic feathered hat, her squirrel-skin cloak, and over that her life preserver, stretched to its limits.
From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck
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.
