All 4 Uses of

preserve
in
The Hot Zone

They removed the brain, eyes, and spinal cord and dropped them into a jar of preservative.†
p. 87.3 *

preservative = something added to food to keep it from spoiling

Anything alive in the mucus would be preserved temporarily.†
p. 172.9

preserved = protected or kept something as it was

Thus a dry cave is a good place for a virus to be preserved, for it to lie inactive in dung or in drying urine, or even, perhaps, for it to drift in cool, lightless, nearly motionless air.†
p. 398.9 *

He lifted out the button with a wooden stick and soaked the button in plastic resin to preserve it.†
p. 186.2

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