save-all

American  

[seyv-awl] / ˈseɪvˌɔl /

noun

1. a means, contrivance, or receptacle for preventing loss or waste.

2. Older Use.  overalls.

3. Nautical.

   1. a net secured between a pier and a ship, beneath cargo being transferred from one to the other.

   2. a sail for utilizing wind spilled from the regular sails of a vessel: used in very light winds.

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save-all British  

noun

1. a device to prevent waste or loss

2. nautical

   1. a net used while loading a ship

   2. a light sail set to catch wind spilling from another sail

3. dialect  overalls or a pinafore

4. a dialect word for miser 1

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Etymology

Origin of save-all

First recorded in 1635–45; noun use of verb phrase save all

Example Sentences

As significant an improvement as it would be, a public option is still not a save-all for our health-care system.

From Time

“Much like chemotherapy and radiotherapy, it’s not going to be a save-all,” Riddell said of the new therapy, adding: “I think immunotherapy has finally made it to a pillar of cancer therapy.”

From The Guardian

Despite the evidence suggesting TASERs need to be used judiciously, officers faith in the save-all nature of the weapons has lead to what some criminologists call “lazy cop syndrome.”

From MSNBC

In the 1960s, for example, “concrete was seen as the great save-all — it’s taken years to remove old restorations,” said Antonio Varone, a former director of the excavations at Pompeii.

From New York Times

D Dairy, the business of, generally carried on as a save-all, 96.

From Project Gutenberg