All 6 Uses

preserve
in
A Separate Peace
(Edited)

It seemed more sedate than I remembered it, more perpendicular and strait-laced, with narrower windows and shinier woodwork, as though a coat of varnish had been put over everything for better preservation.
p. 9.4

preservation = protection
Now here it was after all, preserved by some considerate hand with varnish and wax.
p. 10.1

preserved = protected
Preserved along with it, like stale air in an unopened room, was the well known fear which had surrounded and filled those days, so much of it that I hadn't even known it was there.
p. 10.1

preserved = kept
We were careless and wild, and I suppose we could be thought of as a sign of the life the war was being fought to preserve.
p. 24.3

preserve = protect
And as far as the history of the Class of 1943 at the Devon School is concerned, this was the only part of our conversation worth preserving.
p. 109.2

preserving = keeping
The thing to be was careful and self-preserving.
p. 159.6 *

preserving = protecting

Definitions:

(1) (preserve as in: preserve the records)
to protect something or to keep it as it is
(2) (preserve as in: preserve the peaches)
to prepare food in a way that keeps it from spoiling
(3) (preserve as in: a wildlife preserve)
protected wildlife area
(4) (preserve as in: no longer a male preserve)
something exclusive to (someone or some group) -- such as an activity or place
(5) (preserves as in: mom made preserves)
chunks of fruit cooked with sugar (like jam) and sealed (usually in a mason jar) so it will not spoil
(6) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)