saving

American  

[sey-ving] / ˈseɪ vɪŋ /

adjective

1. tending or serving to save; rescuing; preserving.

2. compensating; redeeming.

   a saving sense of humor.

   Synonyms:

   redemptory

3. thrifty; economical.

   a saving housekeeper.

4. making a reservation.

   a saving clause.

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noun

1. a reduction or lessening of expenditure or outlay.

   a saving of 10 percent.

2. something that is saved.

3. savings, sums of money saved by economy and laid away.

4. Law. a reservation or exception.

preposition

1. except.

   Nothing remains saving these ruins.

2. with all due respect to or for.

   saving your presence.

conjunction

1. except; save.

saving British  

/ ˈseɪvɪŋ /

adjective

1. tending to save or preserve

2. redeeming or compensating (esp in the phrase saving grace )

3. thrifty or economical

4. law denoting or relating to an exception or reservation

   a saving clause in an agreement

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noun

1. preservation or redemption, esp from loss or danger

2. economy or avoidance of waste

3. reduction in cost or expenditure

   a saving of 100 dollars

4. anything saved

5. (plural) money saved for future use

6. law an exception or reservation

preposition

1. with the exception of

conjunction

1. except

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unsaving
  adjective
• savingly
  adverb
• nonsaving
  adjective
• unsavingly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of saving

Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; see origin at save ¹, -ing ², -ing ¹

Example Sentences

Cooper said her party estimated it would mean a saving of £100 a year on average for every household, with the poorest 20% of families saving an average of £140 a year.

From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026

Meanwhile, the United States Senate, in 2022, unanimously passed a bill to make daylight saving time permanent.

From Slate • Jun. 6, 2026

June 1: The decline in the saving rate has received much attention, but on net, I don’t assume a bad outcome simply because the saving rate is historically low.

From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026

Since 2022, the “big saving grace if you lost your job has been you could go across the street and find a new one,” Song said.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 5, 2026

I’ll just be sitting here saving the world or maybe even the universe on my PlayStation.

From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas

Related Words

• preserving