preserves

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of preserve.

   Several wildlife preserves border the national park to the north.

   The pantry held dozens of fruit preserves put up over the summer.

   Note

   One spelling, several quite different plurals: jars of fruit spread, tracts of protected land, and spheres of activity reserved for a few. The spread also works as a mass noun, so a recipe may call for apricot preserve while a pantry shelf holds preserves. The same letters spell the present-tense verb (a coat of wax preserves the wood), and only the surrounding words tell them apart.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present indicative of preserve.

   The treaty preserves the fishing rights of both coastal nations.

   A thick coat of wax preserves the wood against moisture and rot.

   Note

   The -s form a singular subject takes in the present: it preserves, the treaty preserves. It carries every meaning of the verb, from guarding against harm and keeping something intact to putting up food with sugar or salt. Each of them needs a direct object, so something always preserves something. The spelling it shares with a noun is explained under the noun plural.

3. 3
   nounobsoleteplural

   Spectacles worn to shield the eyes from strong light, dust, and similar irritants.

   Travelers crossing the high passes fitted their preserves against the dazzle of the snowfields.

   Best Eye Preserves, steel frames, large coloured eyes, various tints.

   1867, James Grange, Hints to young shipmasters in drafting and cutting ships' rigging and sails

   Note

   A plural-only word with no singular: a pair of glare-shields was simply preserves, never a preserve. James Grange's Hints to Young Shipmasters (1867) advertises "Best Eye Preserves," with steel frames and lenses in various tints, the compound eye preserves making the purpose plain. Now obsolete, it is easily misread as the ordinary plural of preserve, so a modern writer quoting it should gloss it as protective spectacles.

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