save¹ (sāv)

v., saved, sav·ing, saves.

v.tr.

1. 1. To rescue from harm, danger, or loss.
   2. To set free from the consequences of sin; redeem.
2. To keep in a safe condition; safeguard.
3. To prevent the waste or loss of; conserve.
4. 1. To avoid spending (money) so as to keep or accumulate it.
   2. To avoid spending (money or time) in an amount less than what circumstances normally require: saved $25 at the sale; saved 15 minutes by taking a shortcut.
5. To set aside for future use; store.
6. To treat with care by avoiding fatigue, wear, or damage; spare: save one's eyesight.
7. To make unnecessary; obviate: Your taking the trunk to the attic has saved me an extra trip.
8. 1. Sports. To prevent (a goal) from being scored by an opponent.
   2. To preserve a victory in (a game).
   3. Baseball. To preserve (another pitcher's win) by protecting one's team's lead during a stint of relief pitching.
9. Computer Science. To copy (a file) from a computer's main memory to a storage medium.

v.intr.

1. To avoid waste or expense; economize.
2. To accumulate money: saving for a vacation.
3. To preserve a person or thing from harm or loss.

n.

1. Sports. An act that prevents an opponent from scoring.
2. Baseball. A preservation by a relief pitcher of another pitcher's win.

idiom:

save (one's) breath

1. To refrain from a futile appeal or effort: Save your breath; you can't dissuade them.

[Middle English saven, from Old French sauver, from Late Latin salvāre, from Latin salvus, safe.]

savable sav'a·ble or save'a·ble adj.
saver sav'er n.

SYNONYMS   save, rescue, reclaim, redeem, deliver. These verbs mean freeing a person or thing from danger, evil, confinement, or servitude. Save is the most general: The smallpox vaccine has saved many lives. A police officer saved the tourist from being cheated. Rescue usually implies saving from immediate harm or danger by direct action: rescue a rare manuscript from a fire. Reclaim can mean to bring a person back, as from error to virtue or to right or proper conduct: "To reclaim me from this course of life was the sole cause of his journey to London" (Henry Fielding). To redeem is to free someone from captivity or the consequences of sin or error; the term can imply the expenditure of money or effort: The price for redeeming the hostages was extortionate. Deliver applies to liberating people from something such as misery, peril, error, or evil: "consigned to a state of wretchedness from which no human efforts will deliver them" (George Washington).

save² (sāv)
prep.
With the exception of; except: "No man enjoys self-reproach save a masochist" (Philip Wylie).

conj.

1. Were it not; except: The house would be finished by now, save that we had difficulty contracting a roofer.
2. Unless.

[Middle English, from Old French sauf, from Latin salvō, ablative sing. of salvus, safe.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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