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:
Countries are under pressure to salvage the landmark pact at COP17 in Armenia's capital Yerevan, which started this week and runs until October 30.
From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026
Despite being reduced to 10 men, Tottenham managed to salvage a point as Dominic Solanke headed home in the second minute of added time.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
When Hurts dropped back to pass on third down, attempting to salvage the game, he was stripped by linebacker Byron Young, who tallied 2.5 sacks in the game.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
Their experiments showed that MDS stem cells depend strongly on the NAD salvage pathway, a recycling process that helps cells maintain their supply of NAD.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026
At first, they tried to salvage the essence of their first model, placing the phosphate backbone in the middle, and the bases projecting out to the sides.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
“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
Can reporting out his own high-school scandal in first person, against everything he’s been taught about journalism, be the click-o-rama that salvages his career?
From New York Times ● Aug. 1, 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
He charms the druggist’s wife into giving him a broken earphone; he salvages a solenoid from a discarded doorbell, solders it to a resistor, and makes a loudspeaker.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
"That's when the idea of a wind turbine came to mind. Why not harness the wind? So we salvaged parts from the rubble."
From Barron's ● Nov. 5, 2026
The residents of Drop City, a Colorado artists’ community, built domes from the curved steel tops of salvaged cars.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
Recovered impressively through the field to fourth and ensured Ferrari salvaged a huge result from a strategy that initially looked disastrous.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
The Spanish “REC”—purportedly forged out of the salvaged recordings of a news crew lost in a plague-zombie apartment building—was genuinely thrilling.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
Two contestants had salvaged pieces of metal from the downed plane and were using them as tanning reflectors.
From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
There have been five other scores above 288 in the fourth innings at Newlands - all of which were made in defeats or when salvaging a draw.
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026
Cape Verde’s chances of so much as salvaging draws out of those two matches was about as likely as landing a World Cup gig on the internet: a paltry 2.7%, according to pregame betting odds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 27, 2026
He has also been an international champion of his “recovered voices” project, salvaging the neglected operas of composers in the first half of the 20th century who were silenced by Nazi Germany.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
Realistically, they need victories in at least four of their final five matches to have any chance of salvaging a place in Friday's last four - and they began that quest well.
From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2026
I’d inadvertently signed up for a 300-level theology class as a freshman and floundered my way through, ultimately salvaging my grade with an eleventh-hour, leave-it-all-on-the-field effort on the final paper.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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