life-preserver

Noun

life preserver (plural life preservers)

1. (US) A buoyant ring or vest intended to keep a person afloat.
   • ; (buoyant vest) see life jacket

   Synonyms:

   life buoy

2. (UK, dated) A short club with a weighted end.
   • Here's your crowbar / And your centre-bit; / Your life-preserver— / You may want to hit!1879, W[illiam] S[chwenck] Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan, composer, “With Cat-Like Tread”, in The Pirates of Penzance […], Philadelphia: J.M. Stoddart & Co., published 1880, →OCLC, page 34
3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see life, preserver.
   • In such cases, the story is told to illustrate some main truth, which, in this case, is the beer-drinking habit of the people. By this faith, that beer is a life preserver, the English live, and by this they die.1838 November 24, “Sedgwick’s Public and Private Economy”, in The Spectator, number 543, London, page 1119, column 1