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Synonyms

salve

1 American  
[sav, sahv] / sæv, sɑv /

noun

  1. a medicinal ointment for healing or relieving wounds and sores.

  2. anything that soothes, mollifies, or relieves.

verb (used with object)

salved, salving

  1. to soothe with or as if with salve; assuage.

    to salve one's conscience.
    Synonyms:
    mollify, alleviate, ease
salve 2 American  
[salv] / sælv /

verb (used with or without object)

salved, salving

  1. to save from loss or destruction; to salvage.

salve 3 American  
[sal-vee, sahl-wey] / ˈsæl vi, ˈsɑl weɪ /

interjection

  1. hail!

salve 1 British  
/ sælv, sɑːv /

noun

  1. an ointment for wounds, sores, etc

  2. anything that heals or soothes

"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

verb

  1. to apply salve to (a wound, sore, etc)

  2. to soothe, comfort, or appease

"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
salve 2 British  
/ sælv /

verb

  1. a less common word for salvage

  2. an archaic word for save 1

"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

Etymology

Origin of salve1

First recorded before 900; Middle English noun salve, salwe, salf(e), Old English sealf, salf; cognate with German Salbe “ointment, salve,” Sanskrit sarpís “melted butter, fat”; verb derivative of the noun

Origin of salve2

First recorded in 1700–10; back formation from salvage

Origin of salve3

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Latin salvē! literally, “be in good health!”; salute

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.

In “Who Needs Friends,” McCarthy offers no full-safe salve for the loneliness of men — after all, who can?

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 25, 2026

Cheaper money is always a salve for the economy.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 23, 2025

More than that, some are betting that AI and robotics will be the salve to our nation’s debt troubles.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 2, 2025

Brazil is also a major source of beef exports to the U.S., a salve at a time when meat prices are driving inflation.

From Slate • Jul. 14, 2025

He announced that he had changed his mind about the weapon salve.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

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.