save someone's life

present singular third person saves someone's life · participle present saving someone's life · participle past saved someone's life · past saved someone's life

1. To prevent someone from dying.

   The lifeguard saved the kid's life by doing CPR.

   1 more example

   Just a few months ago in a beautiful Pennsylvania field, an assassin's bullet ripped through my ear, but I felt then and believe even more so now that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to Make America Great Again.

   2025 January 20, Donald Trump, Inaugural Address (2025)

   Synonyms: save someone's skin, save someone's ass, save someone's bacon, pull someone's bacon out of the fire

2. idiomaticTo prevent someone from getting into trouble, or to rescue them from it.

   My buddy saved my life by lending me a thousand bucks when I was dead broke.

   1 more example

   The captain did a safety drill. This covered where the emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) was located, how to make a mayday call, and where the fire extinguishers were. A crew member demonstrated how to put on an immersion suit. These survival suits are waterproof full-body garments with a hood and integral three-finger gloves and boots. They are bulky and hard to get on but far more likely to save your life in cold water than a lifejacket.

   2025 October 21, Rose George, “‘I knew in my head we were dying’: the last voyage of the Scandies Rose”, in The Guardian

   Synonyms: save someone's skin, save someone's ass, save someone's bacon, pull someone's bacon out of the fire, throw someone a rope