preservern.

?a1475 Ludus Coventriae (1922) 106 (MED) Adam, Abraham..And many oþere..desyre to here..þin Assent to þe incarnacion In which þou standyst As persevere, of All mankende savacion.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Job vii. 20 I haue offended, what shal I do vnto y^e, O thou preseruer off men?

1582 T. Bentley Fift Lampe Virginitie 204 O God, most excellent creator and preseruer of all things, we cast our selues downe before the feet of thy maiestie.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) v. vi. 2 You, whom the Gods haue made Preseruers of my Throne. View more context for this quotation

1662 Bk. Com. Prayer, Pr. all Conditions Men sig. D4 O God the creator and preserver of all mankind.

1722 N. Amhurst Brit. Gen. 23 Contending Nations vy'd in his Applause, And styl'd him the Preserver of their Laws.

1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones VI. xvii. ii. 93 He hath been the Preserver of me and mine. View more context for this quotation

1806 T. S. Surr Winter in London II. i. 2 Her open and warm expressions of thanks to the preserver of her life.

1862 Mrs. J. B. Speid Our Last Years in India vii. 177 Next to Vishnu himself (in his primary character of preserver) and Siva, the two divinities Rama and Krishna have the largest number of votaries.

1901 G. W. James Indian Basketry xv. 226 These were the true artists; the true preservers of the ideals.

1952 J. Masters Deceivers xxiii. 273 Kali the Destroyer had been defeated..by the smallest servants of the Creator and Preserver.

1989 New Yorker 15 May 113/1 The Benedictines have been best known as educators and as preservers of antique texts.

1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones I. iii. ii. 158 Contiguous to Mr. Allworthy's Estate, was the Manor of one of those Gentlemen, who are called Preservers of the Game . View more context for this quotation

1796 W. Woodfall Impartial Rep. Deb. Parl. III. 324 Supposing the Lord Mayor of London should by accident be found upon the manor of a strict preserver of game..his dog might be seized with impunity, and hanged before his face.

1843 Times 11 Dec. 5/6 The game-preserver is essentially selfish both in providing for and enjoying his sport.

1853 E. Bulwer-Lytton My Novel I. i. ix. 37 The Hazeldeans..were great sportsmen and strict preservers.

1884 Pall Mall Gaz. 4 Apr. 4/2 It would be sad..if the efforts of preservers should succeed in reducing our already painfully small stock of native mammals by further extirpating the four or five now menaced species.

1932 J. E. Baker Novel & Oxf. Movement i. iv. 35 The liberals attack the selfishness of the wealthy preserver of game.

1995 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 27 July 16 Game preservers..should refrain from demanding the relaxation of the laws protecting birds of prey, otherwise they may find a groundswell of public opinion directed against shooting.

1771 T. S. Kuckahn in Philos. Trans. 1770 (Royal Soc.) 60 310 One fault very common with most preservers.

1913 Times 17 Nov. 2/4 Taxidermists... Animal, bird, and fish preserver.

1997 Weekend Austral. (Nexis) 13 Dec. r 26 The lad was on his own, but by then had been curator and preserver of the Zoological Society for a year.

c1487 J. Skelton tr. Diodorus Siculus Bibliotheca Historica Proh. 8 But hystoryal vertue..shal be the chief defensyf wardeyne & contynuel preseruer of alle her hole werke.

1536 Bp. J. Longland Serm. Good Fryday sig. Jiii Myrre is bittur, & is a dryer and a consumer of humoris and a preseruer frome corrupcion.

1586 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. I. 183 Temperance is..the preseruer of good will, the rasor of euill thoughts.

1614 S. Latham Falconry ii. xvii. 110 A present and speciall remedie against such inward diseases, and a great preseruer of health and lustines.

1654 E. Leigh Syst. Divinity iii. iii. 240 It [sc. the air] is the preserver of my life, and we may say of it truly, as the Apostle of God himself, in it (under God) we live, move, and have our being.

1701 N. Rowe Ambitious Step-mother i. i.12 Love is Nature, in the noblest meaning, The cause and the preserver of the world.

1750 tr. C. Leonardus Mirror of Stones 84 Coral is a wonderful preserver.

1844 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 7 155/1 Inverted vessels (which the inventor denominates ‘preservers’) fixed at or near the bottom of the boiler or pan.

1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 580 In the form of bandages, and..with large pieces fitting like a ‘chest preserver’.

1944 F. M. Isserman This Is Judaism i. 64 The value of ritual as a preserver of religion.

1971 S. Chen in Interrelations of Cultures 50 Popular literature is important also as the preserver of the classical tradition.

1993 Paragraph Summer 29/1 The deconstructive characterization of writing as a pharmakon, both a poison and an antidote, both a corrupter of memory and a preserver of memory.

1773 W. Rowley Treat. Princ. Dis. Eyes 53 When vision becomes indistinct or imperfect, without any apparent disease, the glasses called preservers are frequently useful; the focus of these glasses are generally from fifty eight to thirty inches.

1797 A. M. Bennett Beggar Girl V. viii. 212 Miss put on her preservers, and said she was quite a well-grown young woman.

1869 Massillon (Ohio) Independent 15 Sept. 1/2 Unfailing eye preservers! The large and increasing sales of our celebrated Perfected Spectacles and eye glasses in Massillon.

1891 Edinb. Publ. Libr. Catal. (Advt. section) Lennie..46 Princes Street... Spectacles, preservers, eye-glasses.

1912 Chambers's Jrnl. Aug. 636/1 In the panic which is certain to ensue after a wreck even the handling of this preserver would be awkward in the narrow passages and gangways.

1957 Sunday Times Signal (Zanesville, Ohio) 25 Aug. 28 d/2 Every boat should have some sort of preserver for each person aboard.

1982 Batman Official Ann. 1984 44/1 He's passed out..succumbed to the cold... Ahoy! Grab the preserver!

1995 Chron.-Telegram (Elyria, Ohio) 15 July 8/5 Tallman had strapped on a life preserver when the storm was approaching, but Fox said his preserver and flares slipped out of the boat.