Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Wiktionary
n. 1 A buoyant ring or vest intended to keep a person afloat. 2 A short club with a weighted end.
WordNet
n. rescue equipment consisting of a buoyant belt or jacket to keep a person from drowning [syn: preserver, flotation device]
Wikipedia
Life preserver or life-preserver may refer to:
- Personal flotation device, is piece of equipment designed to assist a wearer in keeping afloat; also referred to as a lifejacket, life preserver, Mae West, life vest, life saver, cork jacket, buoyancy aid, or flotation suit
- Lifebuoy, a ring-shaped flotation device
- A kind of club
Usage examples of "life preserver".
He'd removed the extra gas can and the life preserver, and set the boat adrift, leaving me to drown.
He keeps a grip on the life preserver, and although he doesn't feel himself moving, he sees the coral dropping away below.
What with trying to hang on to the life preserver and grab Rhonda, matters got confusing.
Drew and I moved off the end of the rapids and I took slow flight in my life preserver.
I remember the portmanteau sliding down the deck at me, like the grand piano on the Titanic, and then a lot of swallowing of water and clutching at the life preserver, which turned out to be Cyril, sinking like a stone, followed by more swallowing, and the dead mans carry, and we were all sitting on the shore dripping and gasping for breath.
The good-looking dame in the pageboy was hanging on to him like he was a life preserver, and the second lieutenant was looking in her eyes, oblivious to anything else.
The swift and tricky stream could easily knock him down, snatch away his life preserver, and drown him in the hour of his victory.
He grabbed a life preserver just before he leaped overside to swim wildly from the doomed S.
When Juan recovered consciousness he found that the life preserver had saved him.