conserves

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of conserve.

   A well-insulated house conserves heat through the coldest months.

   The charity conserves rare manuscripts for future generations.

   Note

   Here the -s marks agreement with a singular subject, as in it conserves or the charity conserves. They conserve and I conserve take the bare form. Two uses are transitive and need an object: saving something for later, or protecting an environment or heritage. A third is intransitive. Something that conserves stays unchanged during a process, so no object follows the verb.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of conserve.

   The pantry shelves were lined with conserves from the summer harvest.

   He prefers tart conserves made from sour cherries.

   Note

   The plural covers every countable meaning of the noun. It can mean jars of fruit jam or thick syrup on a shelf, or tracts of protected wilderness where development is barred. Two older senses, a medicinal confection of fresh plant matter and sugar and a conservatory, are obsolete. The same spelling also serves the present-tense verb. A determiner in front (the conserves, these conserves) marks the noun.

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