Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The rescue of a ship or its cargo from fire or shipwreck.
  • noun The ship or cargo saved in such a rescue.
  • noun Award given to those who aid in such a rescue when under no obligation to do so, especially in the form of a portion of the cargo.
  • noun The recovery of a sunken ship or its cargo by divers or submersibles.
  • noun The act of saving imperiled property from loss.
  • noun The property so saved.
  • noun Something saved from destruction or waste and put to further use.
  • transitive verb To save from loss or destruction.
  • transitive verb To save (discarded or damaged material) for further use.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An obsolete form of savage.
  • noun The act of saving a ship or goods from extraordinary danger, as from the sea, fire, or pirates.
  • noun In commercial and maritime law: An allowance or compensation to which those are entitled by whose voluntary exertions, when they were under no legal obligation to render assistance, a ship or goods have been saved from the dangers of the sea, fire, pirates, or enemies.
  • noun The property saved from danger or destruction by the extraordinary and voluntary exertions of the salvors.
  • noun Nautical, same as selvagee.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • obsolete Savage.
  • noun The act of saving a vessel, goods, or life, from perils of the sea.
  • noun The compensation allowed to persons who voluntarily assist in saving a ship or her cargo from peril.
  • noun That part of the property that survives the peril and is saved.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun the rescue of a ship, its crew or its cargo from a hazardous situation
  • noun the ship, crew or cargo so rescued
  • noun the compensation paid to the rescuers
  • noun the similar rescue of property liable to loss; the property so rescued
  • noun anything that has been put to good use that would otherwise have been wasted
  • noun damaged
  • verb transitive Of property, people or situations at risk, to rescue
  • verb transitive Of discarded goods, to put to use
  • verb transitive To make new or restore for the use of being saved

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun property or goods saved from damage or destruction
  • verb save from ruin, destruction, or harm
  • verb collect discarded or refused material
  • noun the act of saving goods or property that were in danger of damage or destruction
  • noun the act of rescuing a ship or its crew or its cargo from a shipwreck or a fire

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Obsolete French, from Old French salvaige, right of salvage, from Late Latin salvāre, from Latin salvus, safe; see sol- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French salver, from Late Latin salvare ("to make safe, secure, save"), from Latin salvus ("safe").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Alternative forms.

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Examples

  • Make what you call a salvage job of it, and your pickings, mister, 'ull be out and away beyond the value of what we've been obliged to make you leave behind you.'

    The Honour of the Flag 1877

  • A mother reaches around the baby strapped on her chest to scoop up beads marked VINTAGE, V for the vast enchanted who sleepwalk through the fair, lifting tongs forged by a local smith, as though to salvage from a great fire icons of a past flimsy as a chain of paper dolls, bare as a brass fist with a missing flagpole.

    Antiques Fair 2010

  • That, I think, could be the enduring lesson we salvage from the Teen Mom phenomenon.

    Stephanie Sylverne: Why We Really Care About Teen Mom Stephanie Sylverne 2010

  • That, I think, could be the enduring lesson we salvage from the Teen Mom phenomenon.

    Stephanie Sylverne: Why We Really Care About Teen Mom Stephanie Sylverne 2010

  • That, I think, could be the enduring lesson we salvage from the Teen Mom phenomenon.

    Stephanie Sylverne: Why We Really Care About Teen Mom Stephanie Sylverne 2010

  • A mother reaches around the baby strapped on her chest to scoop up beads marked VINTAGE, V for the vast enchanted who sleepwalk through the fair, lifting tongs forged by a local smith, as though to salvage from a great fire icons of a past flimsy as a chain of paper dolls, bare as a brass fist with a missing flagpole.

    Antiques Fair 2010

  • A mother reaches around the baby strapped on her chest to scoop up beads marked VINTAGE, V for the vast enchanted who sleepwalk through the fair, lifting tongs forged by a local smith, as though to salvage from a great fire icons of a past flimsy as a chain of paper dolls, bare as a brass fist with a missing flagpole.

    Antiques Fair 2010

  • Although he works occasionally at commercial salvage, what Travis McGee really likes to salvage is the wounded heart, the "broken bird," usually a very attractive female to whom he offers his own brand of therapy in the large bed of his gently rocking boat.

    The Damned by John D. MacDonald 2008

  • “We must give General Petraeus and the Americans he has the honor to command adequate time to salvage from the wreckage of our past mistakes a measure of stability for Iraq and the Middle East, and a more secure future for the American people,” said McCain.

    McCain focuses on GI Bill, Iraq on Memorial Day 2008

  • Although he works occasionally at commercial salvage, what Travis McGee really likes to salvage is the wounded heart, the "broken bird," usually a very attractive female to whom he offers his own brand of therapy in the large bed of his gently rocking boat.

    The Damned by John D. MacDonald 2008

Comments

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  • SAlVagE

    April 23, 2008