Adjacent Words

Conserve definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CONSERVE, v.t. [L., to hold, keep or guard.] To keep in a safe or sound state; to save; to preserve from loss, decay, waste, or injury; to defend from violation; as, to conserve bodies from perishing; to conserve the peace of society; to conserve fruits, roots and herbs, with sugar, etc.
CONSERVE, n.
1. A sweetmeat made of the inspissated juice of fruit, boiled with sugar.
2. In pharmacy, a form of medicine contrived to preserve the flowers, herbs, roots or fruits of simples, as nearly as possible, in their natural fresh state. Fresh vegetables and sugar of the consistence of honey.
3. A conservatory. [Not usual.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: fruit preserved by cooking with sugar [syn: conserve, preserve, conserves, preserves] v
1: keep constant through physical or chemical reactions or evolutionary change; "Energy is conserved in this process"
2: keep in safety and protect from harm, decay, loss, or destruction; "We preserve these archeological findings"; "The old lady could not keep up the building"; "children must be taught to conserve our national heritage"; "The museum curator conserved the ancient manuscripts" [syn: conserve, preserve, maintain, keep up]
3: use cautiously and frugally; "I try to economize my spare time"; "conserve your energy for the ascent to the summit" [syn: conserve, husband, economize, economise] [ant: blow, squander, waste]
4: preserve with sugar; "Mom always conserved the strawberries we grew in the backyard"

Merriam Webster's

I. transitive verb (conserved; conserving) Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French conserver, from Latin conservare, from com- + servare to keep, guard, observe; akin to Avestan haurvaiti he guards Date: 14th century 1. to keep in a safe or sound state <he conserved his inheritance>; especially to avoid wasteful or destructive use of <conserve natural resources> 2. to preserve with sugar 3. to maintain (a quantity) constant during a process of chemical, physical, or evolutionary change <conserved DNA sequences> • conserver noun II. noun Date: 15th century 1. sweetmeat; especially a candied fruit 2. preserve; specifically one prepared from a mixture of fruits

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v.tr. 1 store up; keep from harm or damage, esp. for later use. 2 Physics maintain a quantity of (heat etc.). 3 preserve (food, esp. fruit), usu. with sugar. --n. also 1 fruit etc. preserved in sugar. 2 fresh fruit jam. Etymology: ME f. OF conserver f. L conservare (as com-, servare keep)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Conserve Con*serve", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Conserved; p. pr. & vb. n. Conserving.] [F. conserver, L. conservare; con- + servare to keep, guard. See Serve.] 1. To keep in a safe or sound state; to save; to preserve; to protect. The amity which . . . they meant to conserve and maintain with the emperor. --Strype. 2. To prepare with sugar, etc., for the purpose of preservation, as fruits, etc.; to make a conserve of.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Conserve Con"serve, n. [F. conserve, fr. conserver.] 1. Anything which is conserved; especially, a sweetmeat prepared with sugar; a confection. I shall . . . study broths, plasters, and conserves, till from a fine lady I become a notable woman. --Tatler. 2. (Med.) A medicinal confection made of freshly gathered vegetable substances mixed with finely powdered refined sugar. See Confection. 3. A conservatory. [Obs.] --Evelyn.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(conserved) 1. If you conserve a supply of something, you use it carefully so that it lasts for a long time. The republic's factories have closed for the weekend to conserve energy. = save VERB: V n 2. To conserve something means to protect it from harm, loss, or change. ...a big increase in US aid to help developing countries conserve their forests. = preserve VERB: V n 3. Conserve is jam containing a large proportion of fruit, usually in whole pieces. N-MASS

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. Preserve, save, keep, protect, maintain. II. n. Preserve, confection, comfit, sweetmeat, jam.

Moby Thesaurus

Jell-O, attend to, baby-sit, blancmange, candy, care for, chaperon, cherish, comfit, compote, confection, confectionery, confiture, copyright, foster, frosting, gelatin, glaze, guard, hold back, hold on to, honey, husband, icing, jam, jelly, keep, keep alive, keep back, keep by one, keep in reserve, keep in store, keep intact, keep inviolate, keep on hand, keep safe, keep up, keep watch over, lay by, look after, look out for, look to, maintain, marmalade, matronize, meringue, mind, minister to, mother, mousse, not destroy, not endanger, not expend, not use up, not waste, nurse, nurture, patent, preserve, protect, protege, provide for, put apart, put aside, put by, register, reserve, retain, ride herd on, save, save up, see after, see to, set apart, set aside, set by, shepherd, spare, support, sustain, sweet, sweet stuff, sweetmeat, sweets, take care of, take charge of, tend, tutti-frutti, uphold, watch, watch out for, watch over, whipped cream, withhold