"save the furniture" meaning in All languages combined

See save the furniture on Wiktionary

Verb [English]

Audio: en-au-save the furniture.ogg Forms: saves the furniture [present, singular, third-person], saving the furniture [participle, present], saved the furniture [participle, past], saved the furniture [past]
Etymology: An allusion to rapidly removing as much furniture as possible from a building threatened by fire, flood, or a similar disaster. Compare French sauver les meubles. Etymology templates: {{cog|fr|sauver les meubles}} French sauver les meubles Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} save the furniture (third-person singular simple present saves the furniture, present participle saving the furniture, simple past and past participle saved the furniture)
  1. (idiomatic, UK, Canada, Australia) To salvage something positive from a calamitous situation, especially one involving the reputation or fate of a political party. Tags: Australia, Canada, UK, idiomatic Related terms: save the day Translations (Translations): de meubels redden (Dutch), pelastaa edes jotain (rippeistä) (Finnish), sauver les meubles (French), ocalać po czymś złym [imperfective] (Polish), ocalić po czymś złym [perfective] (Polish)

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "fr",
        "2": "sauver les meubles"
      },
      "expansion": "French sauver les meubles",
      "name": "cog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "An allusion to rapidly removing as much furniture as possible from a building threatened by fire, flood, or a similar disaster. Compare French sauver les meubles.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "saves the furniture",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "saving the furniture",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "saved the furniture",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "saved the furniture",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "save the furniture (third-person singular simple present saves the furniture, present participle saving the furniture, simple past and past participle saved the furniture)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Australian English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Canadian English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Dutch translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Polish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Politics",
          "orig": "en:Politics",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              75,
              93
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2013 October 4, Christopher Drew, “Why the Greens were the real election losers”, in ABC News, Australia, retrieved 2016-12-04:",
          "text": "[S]winging progressives were keen to consolidate the diving Labor vote and save the furniture so that a reasonably-sized progressive opposition party could live to fight another day.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              109,
              127
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2015 October 4, Gloria Galloway, “Mulcair touts NDP as only way for western Canadians to oust Tories”, in Globe and Mail, Canada, retrieved 2016-12-04:",
          "text": "A week after a headline in a Montreal newspaper suggested the NDP Leader’s numbers are so low it is time to “save the furniture,” he is still battling aggressively.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              117,
              135
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2016 March 9, John McTernan, “Jeremy Corbyn's days are numbered if MPs stand firm”, in Telegraph, UK, retrieved 2016-12-04:",
          "text": "In other words, the PLP could unite behind an experienced figure who would take them to a dignified defeat but would save the furniture.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To salvage something positive from a calamitous situation, especially one involving the reputation or fate of a political party."
      ],
      "id": "en-save_the_furniture-en-verb-5DryTxNY",
      "links": [
        [
          "salvage",
          "salvage"
        ],
        [
          "calamitous",
          "calamitous"
        ],
        [
          "reputation",
          "reputation"
        ],
        [
          "fate",
          "fate"
        ],
        [
          "political party",
          "political party"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, UK, Canada, Australia) To salvage something positive from a calamitous situation, especially one involving the reputation or fate of a political party."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "save the day"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Australia",
        "Canada",
        "UK",
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "de meubels redden"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "pelastaa edes jotain (rippeistä)"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "word": "sauver les meubles"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "ocalać po czymś złym"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "Translations",
          "tags": [
            "perfective"
          ],
          "word": "ocalić po czymś złym"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-save the furniture.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/0c/En-au-save_the_furniture.ogg/En-au-save_the_furniture.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/En-au-save_the_furniture.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "save the furniture"
}
{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "fr",
        "2": "sauver les meubles"
      },
      "expansion": "French sauver les meubles",
      "name": "cog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "An allusion to rapidly removing as much furniture as possible from a building threatened by fire, flood, or a similar disaster. Compare French sauver les meubles.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "saves the furniture",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "saving the furniture",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "saved the furniture",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "saved the furniture",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "save the furniture (third-person singular simple present saves the furniture, present participle saving the furniture, simple past and past participle saved the furniture)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "save the day"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "Australian English",
        "British English",
        "Canadian English",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs",
        "Entries with translation boxes",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Terms with Dutch translations",
        "Terms with Finnish translations",
        "Terms with French translations",
        "Terms with Polish translations",
        "Translation table header lacks gloss",
        "en:Politics"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              75,
              93
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2013 October 4, Christopher Drew, “Why the Greens were the real election losers”, in ABC News, Australia, retrieved 2016-12-04:",
          "text": "[S]winging progressives were keen to consolidate the diving Labor vote and save the furniture so that a reasonably-sized progressive opposition party could live to fight another day.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              109,
              127
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2015 October 4, Gloria Galloway, “Mulcair touts NDP as only way for western Canadians to oust Tories”, in Globe and Mail, Canada, retrieved 2016-12-04:",
          "text": "A week after a headline in a Montreal newspaper suggested the NDP Leader’s numbers are so low it is time to “save the furniture,” he is still battling aggressively.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              117,
              135
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2016 March 9, John McTernan, “Jeremy Corbyn's days are numbered if MPs stand firm”, in Telegraph, UK, retrieved 2016-12-04:",
          "text": "In other words, the PLP could unite behind an experienced figure who would take them to a dignified defeat but would save the furniture.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To salvage something positive from a calamitous situation, especially one involving the reputation or fate of a political party."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "salvage",
          "salvage"
        ],
        [
          "calamitous",
          "calamitous"
        ],
        [
          "reputation",
          "reputation"
        ],
        [
          "fate",
          "fate"
        ],
        [
          "political party",
          "political party"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, UK, Canada, Australia) To salvage something positive from a calamitous situation, especially one involving the reputation or fate of a political party."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Australia",
        "Canada",
        "UK",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-au-save the furniture.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/0c/En-au-save_the_furniture.ogg/En-au-save_the_furniture.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0c/En-au-save_the_furniture.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "de meubels redden"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "pelastaa edes jotain (rippeistä)"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "word": "sauver les meubles"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "ocalać po czymś złym"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "Translations",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "ocalić po czymś złym"
    }
  ],
  "word": "save the furniture"
}

Download raw JSONL data for save the furniture meaning in All languages combined (3.9kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-05-29 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-05-20 using wiktextract (e937b02 and f1c2b61). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.