save
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: sāv
ipa: /seɪv/
rhymes: -eɪv
Forms: form: saves
form: saving
form: saved
form: saved
form: no-table-tags
form: glossary
form: save
form: save
form: saved
form: save
form: savest
form: saved
form: savedst
form: saves
form: saveth
form: saved
form: save
form: saved
form: save
form: saved
form: save
form: -
form: saving
form: saved
Etymology: Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *sl̥h₂-wós
Proto-Italic *salawos
Latin salvus
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti
Proto-Italic *-āō
Latin -ō
Latin salvō
Latin salvāre
Old French sauverbor.
Middle English saven
English save
From Middle English saven, sauven, a borrowing from Old French sauver, from Late Latin salvāre (“to save”).
Senses: examples: text: She was saved from drowning by a passer-by.
text: We were able to save a few of our possessions from the house fire.
text: Turn out the light
Don't try to save me
You may be wrong for all I know
But you may be right
ref: 1980 March 7, Billy Joel, “You May Be Right”, in Glass Houses:
text: One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains. Isolating a city’s effluent and shipping it away in underground sewers has probably saved more lives than any medical procedure except vaccination.
ref: 2014 June 14, “It's a gas”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8891:
glosses: To prevent harm or difficulty.
To help (somebody) to survive, or rescue (somebody or something) from harm.
examples: text: Thou hast[…]quitted all to save / A world from utter loss.
ref: 1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
text: IF IT SAVES JUST ONE LIFE
You often hear a new policy or procedure justified by the specious idea that "If it saves the life of just one (insert here 'child' or 'American soldier'), it will be worth it." Well, maybe not. Maybe a closer look would show that the cost in time, money or inconvenience would be much too high to justify merely saving one life. What's wrong with looking at it like that? Governments and corporations make those calculations all the time.
ref: 2004, George Carlin, When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?, New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, →OCLC, →OL, page 132:
glosses: To prevent harm or difficulty.
To keep (something) safe; to safeguard.
examples: text: I'll save you / That labour, sir. All's now done.
ref: 1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
glosses: To prevent harm or difficulty.
To spare (somebody) from effort, or from something undesirable.
examples: text: Jesus Christ came to save sinners.
topics: Christianity
glosses: To prevent harm or difficulty.
To redeem or protect someone from eternal damnation.
examples: text: Chelsea's youngsters, who looked lively throughout, then combined for the second goal in the seventh minute. Romeu's shot was saved by Wolves goalkeeper Dorus de Vries but Piazon kept the ball alive and turned it back for an unmarked Bertrand to blast home.
ref: 2012, Chelsea 6-0 Wolves:
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To prevent harm or difficulty.
To catch or deflect (a shot at goal).
topics: ball-games
baseball
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To prevent harm or difficulty.
To preserve, as a relief pitcher, (a win of another pitcher's on one's team) by defending the lead held when the other pitcher left the game.
examples: text: Let's save the packaging in case we need to send the product back.
glosses: To put aside; to avoid.
To store for future use.
coordinate_terms: lay aside
lay away
lay by
lay in
lay up
put aside
put away
put by
store away
store up
examples: text: Save electricity by turning off the lights when you leave the room.
text: An indulgent playmate, Grannie would lay aside the long scratchy-looking letter she was writing (heavily crossed ‘to save notepaper’) and enter into the delightful pastime of ‘a chicken from Mr Whiteley's’.
ref: 1977, Agatha Christie, chapter 4, in An Autobiography, part I, London: Collins, →ISBN:
text: However, we’ve reached the stage where our technological leaps and bounds no longer save us hours, or even minutes – they shave only seconds from our day-to-day tasks.
ref: 2019 May 21, Dylan Curran, “Facial recognition will soon be everywhere. Are we prepared?”, in The Guardian:
glosses: To put aside; to avoid.
To conserve or prevent the wasting of.
examples: text: Will you not speak to save a lady's blush?
ref: 1681, John Dryden, The Spanish Fryar: Or, the Double Discovery. […], London: […] Richard Tonson and Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page number):
glosses: To put aside; to avoid.
To obviate or make unnecessary.
examples: text: Where did I save that document? I can't find it on the desktop.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
video-games
glosses: To put aside; to avoid.
To write a file to disk or other storage medium.
glosses: To put aside; to avoid.
To economize or avoid waste.
glosses: To put aside; to avoid.
To accumulate money or valuables.
examples: text: to save a fiver
topics: gambling
games
glosses: To put aside; to avoid.
To make an agreement to give (some amount of money) to a fellow gambler if one wins, and to receive that amount from them if they win, as a form of hedging.
examples: text: She told me she's saving herself for marriage.
text: Ryder: Come on—you two were intimate, right?
Peebee: Take a wild guess. Why are people so hung up on sex? It's a natural expression of attraction.
Peebee: We were doing exciting, daring, irreverent things. It stirs stuff up. Like shaking up a bottle of champagne, you know?
Peebee: You should know, better than anyone...
Peebee: I'm not the type to "save myself".
ref: 2017, BioWare, Mass Effect: Andromeda (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Tempest:
glosses: To put aside; to avoid.
To refrain from romantic or (especially in later use) sexual relationships until one is married or is with a suitable partner.
raw_tags: with "for"
examples: text: Save your excuses and lies.
text: School days went by. I ran across Sly a couple a times, but I wasn't in no mood to talk. He could save all that philosophical bullshit he liked to holla. Didn't nobody need to tell me what was up.
ref: 2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 206:
glosses: To put aside; to avoid.
To avoid saying something.
Derived terms: sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: a penny saved is a penny earned
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: a penny saved is a penny gained
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: autosave
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: captain save a hoe
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: daylight-saving time
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: face-saving
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: foresave
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: God save the mark
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: lifesaver
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: lifesaving
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: quicksave
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: resave
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: save-all
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: save appearances
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: save as
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: save by the bell
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: saved by the bell
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: saved game
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: savegame
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: save face
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: save file
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: savefile
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: save for a rainy day
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: save harmless
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: save it
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: save one's breath
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: save one's breath to cool one's porridge
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: save one's neck
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: save one's skin
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: save over
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: save point
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: savepoint
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: save slot
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: save someone's bacon
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: save someone's face
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: save someone's life
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: save someone's skin
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: save something for a rainy day
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: save state
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: savestate
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: save the best for last
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: save the date
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: save the day
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: save the drama for your mama
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: save the drama for your momma
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: save the furniture
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: save the mark
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: save up
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: save versus
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: saving your presence
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: saving your reverence
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: scrimp and save
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: shit fire and save matches
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: skimp and save
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: time-saving
sense: Terms derived from save (verb)
word: to save one's life