save

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• preposition With the exception of; except.
• conjunction Were it not; except.
• conjunction Unless.
• intransitive verb To rescue from harm, danger, or loss.
• intransitive verb To prevent from dying.
• intransitive verb To set free from the consequences of sin; redeem.
• intransitive verb To keep in a safe or healthy condition.
• intransitive verb To hold back for future use.
• intransitive verb To avoid spending (money) so as to keep or accumulate it.
• intransitive verb To avoid spending (money or time) in an amount less than what circumstances normally require.
• intransitive verb To prevent the waste or loss of; conserve.
• intransitive verb To treat with care by avoiding fatigue, wear, or damage; spare.
• intransitive verb To make unnecessary; obviate.
• intransitive verb To spare (someone) from having to do something.
• intransitive verb Sports To prevent (a goal) from being scored by blocking a shot. Used of a goalie.
• intransitive verb To prevent an opponent from scoring (a point).
• intransitive verb To preserve a victory in (a game).
• intransitive verb Baseball To preserve (another pitcher's win) by protecting one's team's lead during a stint of relief pitching.
• intransitive verb Computers To copy (a file) from a computer's main memory to a disk or other storage medium.
• intransitive verb To avoid waste or expense; economize.
• intransitive verb To accumulate money.
• intransitive verb To preserve a person or thing from harm or loss.
• noun Sports An act that prevents a ball or puck from entering a goal.
• noun Baseball A preservation by a relief pitcher of another pitcher's win.
• idiom (save (one's) breath) To refrain from a futile appeal or effort.

from The Century Dictionary.

• To preserve from danger, injury, loss, destruction, or evil of any kind; wrest or keep from impending danger; rescue: as, to save a house from burning, or a man from drowning; to save a family from ruin.
• To deliver from the power and penal consequences of sin; rescue from sin and spiritual death.
• To deliver; defend.
• To spare: as, to save one's self much trouble and expense.
• To use or preserve with frugal care; keep fresh or good, as for future use; husband: as, to save one's clothes; to save one's strength for a final effort.
• To avoid, curtail, or lessen; especially, to lessen waste in or of; economize: as, to save time, expense, or labor.
• To lay by, little by little, and as the result of frugal care; lay up; hoard: as, he has saved quite a good sum out of his scanty earnings.
• To take advantage of; utilize; avoid missing or losing; be in time for; catch: as, to save the tide.
• To prevent the occurrence, use, or necessity of; obviate: as, a stitch in time saves nine.
• Synonyms and To redeem.
• To protect.
• To be economical; keep from spending; spare.
• To be capable of preservation: said of fish: as, to save well.
• noun The herb sage or salvia.
• Except; not including; leaving out of account; unless.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• transitive verb To make safe; to procure the safety of; to preserve from injury, destruction, or evil of any kind; to rescue from impending danger.
• transitive verb (Theol.) Specifically, to deliver from sin and its penalty; to rescue from a state of condemnation and spiritual death, and bring into a state of spiritual life.
• transitive verb To keep from being spent or lost; to secure from waste or expenditure; to lay up; to reserve.
• transitive verb To rescue from something undesirable or hurtful; to prevent from doing something; to spare.
• transitive verb To hinder from doing, suffering, or happening; to obviate the necessity of; to prevent; to spare.
• transitive verb To hold possession or use of; to escape loss of.