2
general::
verb ADV. carefully, jealously, lovingly, zealously She carefully preserved all his letters. VERB + PRESERVE seek to, try to | be anxious to, want to, wish to We were anxious to preserve the original character of the house. | help (to) taking action to help preserve fish stocks | fight to campaigners fighting to preserve a historic railway line | be designed to The Act contained provisions designed to preserve the status quo. | be important to PREP. as The prison is preserved as a tourist attraction. | for The collection has been sold to the British Museum where it will be preserved for the nation. | from an attempt to preserve the corpse from decomposition PHRASES an attempt to preserve sth, beautifully/exquisitely/finely/perfectly/superbly/well preserved They were thrilled to discover a perfectly preserved specimen of Roman pottery. | be preserved intact The bones had all been preserved intact. | be worth preserving You need to say why the building is worth preserving. | preserve sth for future generations/posterity
Oxford Collocations Dictionary