preserved, ppl. a.
(prɪˈzɜːvd)
[f. prec. + -ed1.]
1. gen. Kept safe, protected; kept in existence, maintained, retained, etc.: see prec. 1, 2.
| 1552 Huloet, Preserued, præseruatus. Preserued in health, sospes. 1573–80 Baret Alv. P 680 Kept, Preserved,..ab hostium populatione defensa. 1861 G. J. Whyte-Melville Mkt. Harb. iii. 22 A strong odour of preserved tobacco-smoke. 1902 Westm. Gaz. 29 Sept. 3/2 Professor Dixon..described the contents of libraries as the ‘preserved verbosity of centuries’. |
2. spec. a. Treated so as to resist putrefaction.
| 1579 Langham Gard. Health (1633) 136 Preserued Cheries and Plummes. 1582 N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. i. vi. 15 A pot a Dates preserued. 1820 W. Irving Sketch-Bk., Leg. Sleepy Hollow §40 Delectable dishes of preserved plums. 1861 Times 27 Sept., Jars of preserved meats which had been brought from England. 1890 S. J. Duncan Soc. Depart. 414 She had never seen anything so utterly horrid as a preserved Capuchin. |
b. In combinations used attrib.
| 1901 Westm. Gaz. 1 May 2/2 He had the rations of condemned prisoners handed to him in old preserved-meat cans. 1904 Ibid. 12 May 2/3 The development of the marmalade and preserved-fruit industry. 1906 Daily Chron. 28 July 5/5 A ‘preserved provision’ merchant. |
c. Kept undisturbed, as game or game-runs.
| 1881 Daily News 1 Sept. 5/3 The Duke of Edinburgh..fished Lord Dalhousie's preserved water on South Esk, having good sport. |