preserve

[ pri-zurv ]

/ prɪˈzɜrv /

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verb (used with object), pre·served, pre·serv·ing.

to keep alive or in existence; make lasting: to preserve our liberties as free citizens.

to keep safe from harm or injury; protect or spare.

to keep up; maintain: to preserve historical monuments.

to keep possession of; retain: to preserve one's composure.

to prepare (food or any perishable substance) so as to resist decomposition or fermentation.

to prepare (fruit, vegetables, etc.) by cooking with sugar, pickling, canning, or the like.

to maintain and reserve (game, fish, etc.) for continued survival or for private use, as in hunting or fishing.

verb (used without object), pre·served, pre·serv·ing.

to preserve fruit, vegetables, etc.; make preserves.

to maintain a preserve for game or fish, especially for sport.

noun

something that preserves.

that which is preserved.

Usually preserves. fruit, vegetables, etc., prepared by cooking with sugar.

a place set apart for protection and propagation of game or fish, especially for sport.

Nearby words

presentment, presents, preservation, preservationist, preservative, preserve, preserving, preset, preset board, preshave, preshrink

Origin of preserve

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

SYNONYMS FOR preserve

1 conserve.

2 safeguard, shelter, shield.

3 continue, uphold, sustain.

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ANTONYMS FOR preserve

1 destroy.

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Related forms

pre·serv·a·ble, adjectivepre·serv·a·bil·i·ty, nounpres·er·va·tion

[prez-er-vey-shuhn] /ˌprɛz ərˈveɪ ʃən/, nounpre·serv·er, noun

non·pre·serv·a·ble, adjectivenon·pres·er·va·tion, nounsem·i·pre·served, adjectiveun·pre·serv·a·ble, adjectiveun·pre·served, adjective

Synonym study

2. See defend.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for preserve

Or bold stands that may not preserve our security today or tomorrow, but keep our principles safely intact?
Should the U.S. Really Pay a Kim’s Ransom?|Kevin Bleyer|December 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
These cases demonstrate how governments struggle to preserve historic sites.
For Rent: Priceless Historic Sites|Elinor Betesh|November 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Why do they sincerely try to restore, or preserve, the line between the two, and get heartbroken when the line fails?
A Reminder: Our Justices are Politicians in Robes|Jedediah Purdy|November 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Advocates claimed that it helped to preserve virtue and to affirm the application of Sharia law.
Saudi Activist Manal Al-Sharif on Why She Removed the Veil|Manal Al Sharif, Advancing Human Rights|October 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST

In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free—honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve.
Lincoln Was the Founders’ Heir Apparent|Harvey J. Kaye|October 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
When you hear a carr mentioned in those counties, you always think of a pheasants' preserve.
Notes and Queries, Vol. V, Number 124, March 13, 1852|Various
This receipt you will preserve and return to me in token that you have fulfilled your mission.
Lochinvar|S. R. Crockett
Owning to the rapid changes in all the circumstances of our lives, it was difficult to preserve old associations.
The Last Voyage|Lady (Annie Allnutt) Brassey
Social organization is the natural expression of man's fundamental endeavor to preserve himself.
The Philosophy of Spinoza|Baruch de Spinoza
So long as they preserve their vigour and command the Burmans' belief, there is not much fear.
The Pacification of Burma|Sir Charles Haukes Todd Crosthwaite

British Dictionary definitions for preserve

preserve

/ (prɪˈzɜːv) /

verb (mainly tr)

to keep safe from danger or harm; protect

to protect from decay or dissolution; maintainto preserve old buildings

to maintain possession of; keep upto preserve a façade of indifference

to prevent from decomposition or chemical change

to prepare (food), as by freezing, drying, or salting, so that it will resist decomposition

to make preserves of (fruit, etc)

to rear and protect (game) in restricted places for hunting or fishing

(intr) to maintain protection and favourable conditions for game in preserves

noun

something that preserves or is preserved

a special area or domainarchaeology is the preserve of specialists

(usually plural) fruit, etc, prepared by cooking with sugar

areas where game is reared for private hunting or fishing

Derived Forms

preservable, adjectivepreservability, nounpreservably, adverbpreservation (ˌprɛzəˈveɪʃən), noun

preserver, noun

Word Origin for preserve

C14: via Old French, from Late Latin praeservāre literally: to keep safe in advance, from Latin prae- before + servāre to keep safe

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for preserve (1 of 2)

preserve

late 14c., "keep safe," from Anglo-French preservare, Old French preserver, from Medieval Latin preservare "keep, preserve," from Late Latin praeservare "guard beforehand," from Latin prae "before" (see pre-) + servare "to keep safe" (see observe). As a treatment of fruit, etc., 1570s; of organic bodies from 1610s. Related: Preserved; preserving.

Word Origin and History for preserve (1 of 2)

preserve

"fruit preserved with sugar," c.1600, from preserve (v.). Earlier it meant "a preservative" (1550s). Sense of "protected place for animals or plants" (a sense more properly belonging to conserve) is from 1807.

preserve

verb (used with object), pre·served, pre·serv·ing.

verb (used without object), pre·served, pre·serv·ing.

noun

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Origin of preserve

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Examples from the Web for preserve

British Dictionary definitions for preserve

preserve

verb (mainly tr)

noun

Word Origin for preserve

Word Origin and History for preserve (1 of 2)

preserve

Word Origin and History for preserve (1 of 2)

preserve

preserve

verb (used without object), pre·served, pre·serv·ing.

noun

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of preserve

Synonym study

Examples from the Web for preserve

British Dictionary definitions for.css-ylq2vz{color:#1a1a1a;} preserve

preserve

verb (mainly tr)

noun

Word Origin for preserve

Word Origin and History for preserve (1 of 2)

preserve

Word Origin and History for preserve (1 of 2)

preserve

British Dictionary definitions for preserve