salvar

Senses

1. 1.

   to save

   to rescue someone from danger or harm

2. 2.

   to save

   to keep or preserve something from being lost or destroyed

3. 3.

   to overcome

   to pass through or cross an obstacle or distance

4. 4.

   to excuse

   to except or make an exception for (formal/archaic)

Examples

• "El bombero salvó a la niña del fuego."

  The firefighter saved the girl from the fire.

• "Guarda tus documentos en la nube para salvar datos importantes."

  Keep your documents in the cloud to save important data.

• "Tuvimos que salvar varias montañas para llegar al pueblo."

  We had to cross several mountains to reach the village.

Usage

Salvar is a regular -ar verb. In computing contexts, "guardar" is more common for saving files, though salvar is also used. The pronominal form "salvarse" means "to escape" or "to save oneself." Note the distinction: salvar (transitive) vs. salvarse (reflexive).