life preserver

plural life preservers · alternative life-preserver · alternative lifepreserver

1. USA buoyant ring or vest intended to keep a person afloat.

   ; (buoyant vest) see life jacket

   Synonyms: life buoy

2. UKdatedA short club with a weighted end.

   Here's your crowbar / And your centre-bit; / Your life-preserver— / You may want to hit!

   1879, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan, composer, “With Cat-Like Tread”, in The Pirates of Penzance […], Philadelphia: J.M. Stoddart & Co., published 1880, →OCLC, page 34

   1 more example

   But when I gave him every particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster, and took down a life-preserver from the wall. I knew my man, however, and I clapped a pistol to his head before he could strike.

   1892 [May], A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. XI.—The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet.”, in Geo[rge] Newnes, editor, The Strand Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly, volume III (January to June), number [17], London: George Newnes, Limited, […], page 525, column 1

3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see life, preserver.

   In a very similar way, in the early, barbarous, unsanitary condition of society, alcohol obtained credit as a life preserver which was not merited by any virtues the drug itself possessed.

   1918, Temperance, volumes IX–XI, New York, N.Y.: The Church Temperance Society, page 5

   3 more examples

   In such cases, the story is told to illustrate some main truth, which, in this case, is the beer-drinking habit of the people. By this faith, that beer is a life preserver, the English live, and by this they die.

   1838 November 24, “Sedgwick’s Public and Private Economy”, in The Spectator, number 543, London, page 1119, column 1

   Drink as a Life Preserver.—A report on the inquiry into the connection of disease with habits of intemperance, prepared by Dr. Isambard Owen, secretary of the investigation committee of the British Medical Association, gives some startling statistics for temperance people. Particulars have been obtained by the committee of 4234 cases of deceased lives, aged 25 and upwards, in which the habits of the person in regard to alcohol were recorded in five classes—total abstainers, habitually temperate, careless drinkers, free drinkers, and decidedly intemperate.

   1888 October 5, “Statistics vs. Statistics”, in The Baltimore Underwriter: A Semi-Monthly Journal Devoted to the Interests of Insurance in All Its Branches, volume XL, Baltimore, Md.: Charles C. Bombaugh, […], page 152, column 1

   Sleep a Life Preserver / During sleep the pulse is slowed and all the life processes slackened to a pronounced degree. The winter sleep of plants and of hibernating animals no doubt greatly contributes to their life duration.

   1919, J[ohn] H[arvey] Kellogg, editor, Good Health, volume LIV, Battle Creek, Mich.: […] [T]he Good Health Publishing Company, page 379