The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Save \Save\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Saved; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Saving.] [OE. saven, sauven, salven, OF. salver, sauver, F.
   sauver, L. salvare, fr. salvus saved, safe. See Safe, a.]
   1. To make safe; to procure the safety of; to preserve from
      injury, destruction, or evil of any kind; to rescue from
      impending danger; as, to save a house from the flames.
      [1913 Webster]

            God save all this fair company.       --Chaucer.
      [1913 Webster]

            He cried, saying, Lord, save me.      --Matt. xiv.
                                                  30.
      [1913 Webster]

            Thou hast . . . quitted all to save
            A world from utter loss.              --Milton.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Theol.) Specifically, to deliver from sin and its
      penalty; to rescue from a state of condemnation and
      spiritual death, and bring into a state of spiritual life.
      [1913 Webster]

            Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
                                                  --1 Tim. i.
                                                  15.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To keep from being spent or lost; to secure from waste or
      expenditure; to lay up; to reserve.
      [1913 Webster]

            Now save a nation, and now save a groat. --Pope.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. To rescue from something undesirable or hurtful; to
      prevent from doing something; to spare.
      [1913 Webster]

            I'll save you
            That labor, sir. All's now done.      --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. To hinder from doing, suffering, or happening; to obviate
      the necessity of; to prevent; to spare.
      [1913 Webster]

            Will you not speak to save a lady's blush? --Dryden.
      [1913 Webster]

   6. To hold possession or use of; to escape loss of.
      [1913 Webster]

            Just saving the tide, and putting in a stock of
            merit.                                --Swift.
      [1913 Webster]

   To save appearances, to preserve a decent outside; to avoid
      exposure of a discreditable state of things.
      [1913 Webster]

   Syn: To preserve; rescue; deliver; protect; spare; reserve;
        prevent.
        [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Saving \Sav"ing\ (s[=a]v"[i^]ng), prep. or conj.; but properly a
   participle.
   With the exception of; except; excepting; also, without
   disrespect to. "Saving your reverence." --Shak. "Saving your
   presence." --Burns.
   [1913 Webster]

         None of us put off our clothes, saving that every one
         put them off for washing.                --Neh. iv. 23.
   [1913 Webster]

         And in the stone a new name written, which no man
         knoweth saving he that receiveth it.     --Rev. ii. 17.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Saving \Sav"ing\, a.
   1. Preserving; rescuing.
      [1913 Webster]

            He is the saving strength of his anointed. --Ps.
                                                  xxviii. 8.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Avoiding unnecessary expense or waste; frugal; not lavish
      or wasteful; economical; as, a saving cook.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Bringing back in returns or in receipts the sum expended;
      incurring no loss, though not gainful; as, a saving
      bargain; the ship has made a saving voyage.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. Making reservation or exception; as, a saving clause.
      [1913 Webster]

   Note: Saving is often used with a noun to form a compound
         adjective; as, labor-saving, life-saving, etc.
         [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Saving \Sav"ing\, n.
   1. Something kept from being expended or lost; that which is
      saved or laid up; as, the savings of years of economy.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Exception; reservation.
      [1913 Webster]

            Contend not with those that are too strong for us,
            but still with a saving to honesty.   --L'Estrange.
      [1913 Webster]

   Savings bank, a bank in which savings or earnings are
      deposited and put at interest.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

saving
    adj 1: bringing about salvation or redemption from sin; "saving
           faith"; "redemptive (or redeeming) love" [syn:
           redemptive, redeeming(a), saving(a)]
    2: characterized by thriftiness; "wealthy by inheritance but
       saving by constitution"- Ellen Glasgow
    n 1: an act of economizing; reduction in cost; "it was a small
         economy to walk to work every day"; "there was a saving of
         50 cents" [syn: economy, saving]
    2: recovery or preservation from loss or danger; "work is the
       deliverance of mankind"; "a surgeon's job is the saving of
       lives" [syn: rescue, deliverance, delivery, saving]
    3: the activity of protecting something from loss or danger
       [syn: preservation, saving]