life preserver

noun

1
: a device (such as a life jacket or life buoy) designed to save a person from drowning by providing buoyancy in water
2
chiefly British : blackjack sense 2

Examples of life preserver in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Even Nietzsche, master exposer of escape fantasies, treated Italy as a life preserver. Thomas Meaney, The New Yorker, 25 Nov. 2024 Technically, the Gulf States saw Yemen drowning long before the Arab Spring, but never sought to toss it a life preserver. Farea Al-Muslimi, Foreign Affairs, 6 May 2015 Others pass orange life preservers to those at the bottom. Russ Bynum and Emily Wagster Pettus, Los Angeles Times, 21 Oct. 2024 All of the signage had been changed to be Tommy Hilfiger branded, and the life preservers were changed out to be branded as well. Hedy Phillips, Peoplemag, 10 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for life preserver 

Word History

First Known Use

1819, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of life preserver was in 1819

Dictionary Entries Near life preserver

Cite this Entry

“Life preserver.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/life%20preserver. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

life preserver

noun
: a device designed to save a person from drowning by holding up the body while in the water

More from Merriam-Webster on life preserver

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!