salve
noun
[ salv ]
• an ointment used to promote healing of the skin or as protection.
• "the wound should be washed with water and then a salve applied"
Similar:
ointment,
cream,
balm,
unction,
unguent,
balsam,
pomade,
rub,
embrocation,
emollient,
liniment,
salve
verb
• soothe (wounded pride or one's conscience).
• "charity salves our conscience"
Similar:
soothe,
lighten,
alleviate,
assuage,
comfort,
ease,
allay,
dull,
mollify,
mitigate,
palliate,
• apply salve to.
• "they salved my cuts and stopped the bleeding"
Origin:
Old English sealfe (noun), sealfian (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch zalf and German Salbe .
salve
verb
• archaic term for salvage.
• "this gun was salved, having lain nearly 100 years below the sea"
Origin:
early 18th century: back-formation from the noun salvage.
