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.
In a tempest of tragedy, basketball was his life preserver. Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 27 Jan. 2025 Cold, weak and blinded by jet fuel, Tirado was barely hanging onto a dangling life preserver before her grip gave out. Josh Meyer, USA TODAY, 30 Jan. 2025 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 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 19 Feb. 2025.

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
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