preserve

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To maintain in safety from injury, peril, or harm; protect.
2. v. To keep in perfect or unaltered condition; maintain unchanged.
3. v. To keep or maintain intact: tried to preserve family harmony. See Synonyms at defend.
4. v. To prepare (food) for future use, as by canning or salting.
5. v. To prevent (organic bodies) from decaying or spoiling.
6. v. To keep or protect (game or fish) for one's private hunting or fishing.
7. v. To treat fruit or other foods so as to prevent decay.
8. v. To maintain a private area stocked with game or fish.
9. n. Something that acts to preserve; a preservative.
10. n. Fruit cooked with sugar to protect against decay or fermentation. Often used in the plural.
11. n. An area maintained for the protection of wildlife or natural resources.
12. n. Something considered as being the exclusive province of certain persons: Ancient Greek is the preserve of scholars.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To keep safe or free from harm; defend from injury or destruction; save.
2. To maintain; secure permanence to; keep in existence or alive; make lasting: as, to preserve one's good looks.
3. To keep possession of; retain.
4. To prepare in such a manner as to resist decomposition or fermentation; prevent from spoiling by the use of preservative substances, with or without the agency of heat: as, to preserve meats or fruit; to preserve an anatomical specimen.
5. To maintain and reserve for personal or special use in hunting or fishing. To raise, provide for, and protect, as game, for use at certain seasons or by certain persons, as in hunting or fishing: as, to preserve quail; to preserve salmon.
6. To prepare decomposable substances, as meats or fruits, for preservation; make preserves.
7. To raise and protect game for special use, as in hunting or fishing.
8. n. That which preserves or saves.
9. n. Specifically plural A kind of spectacles with colored glasses to protect the eyes from too strong light.
10. n. That which is preserved, or prepared for keeping; especially, fruit, meats, etc., suitably seasoned and cooked to prevent fermentation or spoiling.
11. n. A place where game is preserved; a place set apart for the protection and propagation of game intended for hunting or fishing.
12. n. A thing preserved.

Wiktionary

1. n. a sweet spread made of any of a variety of berries
2. n. a nature preserve
3. v. To protect; to keep; to maintain the condition of.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To keep or save from injury or destruction; to guard or defend from evil, harm, danger, etc.; to protect.
2. v. To save from decay by the use of some preservative substance, as sugar, salt, etc.; to season and prepare for remaining in a good state, as fruits, meat, etc..
3. v. To maintain throughout; to keep intact
4. v. To make preserves.
5. v. To protect game for purposes of sport.
6. n. That which is preserved; fruit, etc., seasoned and kept by suitable preparation; esp., fruit cooked with sugar; -- commonly in the plural.
7. n. A place in which game, fish, etc., are preserved for purposes of sport, or for food.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. to keep up and reserve for personal or special use
2. n. a reservation where animals are protected
3. v. maintain in safety from injury, harm, or danger
4. v. keep undisturbed for personal or private use for hunting, shooting, or fishing
5. v. keep or maintain in unaltered condition; cause to remain or last
6. v. prevent (food) from rotting
7. n. a domain that seems to be specially reserved for someone
8. v. keep in safety and protect from harm, decay, loss, or destruction
9. n. fruit preserved by cooking with sugar