Basic Details
Word: Preserve
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: To keep something safe from harm, loss or decay; also to keep food from going bad, for example by making it into pickle or jam.
Synonyms: protect, save, conserve, maintain
Antonyms: destroy, spoil, damage
How to Spell Preserve
Syllables: pre - serve
Tricky part: It starts with pre, not per, and ends with a silent e after the v.
Watch out for: perserve, preserv, prezerve
Memory tip: Pre + serve: we preserve mangoes as pickle now so that we can serve them months later.
Idioms and Phrases
- the preserve of: something only one group has or does Example: "Cricket is no longer the preserve of boys at our school."
Usage Examples
Example 1: We must preserve old monuments for the people who come after us.
Example 2: Honey can be preserved for a very long time.
Example 3: The national park was set up to preserve tigers and their forest.
Fun Fact
Salt, sugar, oil and vinegar have been used for hundreds of years to preserve food, because germs find it hard to grow in them.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word: preserve
a) destroy
b) save
c) maintain
d) protect
Show answer
a) destroy. Destroy means to ruin something completely, while preserve means to keep it safe.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) perserve
b) deserve
c) observe
d) reserve
Show answer
a) perserve. Preserve begins with pre-, meaning before.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
Grandmother uses salt and oil to preserv the lime pickle for the whole year.
a) pickle
b) Grandmother
c) preserv
d) whole
Show answer
c) preserv. A silent e closes preserve, just as it closes serve.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these helps to preserve food?
a) keeping it in a fridge
b) adding water every day
c) dropping it on the floor
d) leaving it in the sun
Show answer
a) keeping it in a fridge
2. Why do people preserve old buildings?
a) so that their history is not lost
b) so that they fall down
c) to hide them
d) to make them noisy
Show answer
a) so that their history is not lost
