salvaging
Retrieving useful scraps
Salvaging is the act of rescuing or recovering something from loss, damage, or destruction.
Ships salvage cargo from wrecks; people salvage materials from demolished buildings.
The word extends to abstract recovery: She spent the evening salvaging what she could of the relationship.
Salvaging often implies making use of what remains when the whole is lost.
Destroyed vessel at sea
- wreckDestroyed vessel or vehicle
- divingEntering water deliberately
- underwaterBelow the surface
- sunkenDescended beneath water level
flotsam · jetsam · seabed · hull · cargo · anchor · rigging · vessel
Regaining what was lost
- retrievalAct of getting back
- extractionAct of removing
- searchAct of seeking
- emergencySerious sudden danger
disaster · wreckage · rubble · survivors · belongings · possessions · aftermath · crisis
Returning something to condition
- rebuildingConstructing anew after destruction
- reconstructionRebuilding after destruction
- refurbishingRestoring to good condition
- reconditioningRestoring to good condition
mending · fixing · patching · overhauling · repairing · rehabilitating · reworking · retrofitting
Act of unearthing
- artifactsHuman-made historical objects
- relicsPreserved items from antiquity
- antiquitiesHistorical objects from ages past
- fossilsPreserved ancient organism traces
pottery · inscriptions · provenance · restoration · conservation · cataloging · museum · heirlooms
Discarded bit or tussle
- metalHard conductive solid
- copperReddish-brown metallic element
- steelCarbon-hardened iron alloy
- ironElement twenty-six
aluminum · wire · parts · components · machinery · vehicles · appliances · demolition
shipwreck
Destroyed vessel at sea
- wreckDestroyed vessel or vehicle
- divingEntering water deliberately
- underwaterBelow the surface
sunken · flotsam · jetsam · seabed · hull · cargo · anchor · rigging · vessel · derelict
recovery
Regaining what was lost
- retrievalAct of getting back
- extractionAct of removing
- searchAct of seeking
emergency · disaster · wreckage · rubble · survivors · belongings · possessions · aftermath · crisis · relief
restoration
Returning something to condition
- rebuildingConstructing anew after destruction
- reconstructionRebuilding after destruction
- refurbishingRestoring to good condition
reconditioning · mending · fixing · patching · overhauling · repairing · rehabilitating · reworking · retrofitting · repurposing
excavation
Act of unearthing
- artifactsHuman-made historical objects
- relicsPreserved items from antiquity
- antiquitiesHistorical objects from ages past
fossils · pottery · inscriptions · provenance · restoration · conservation · cataloging · museum · heirlooms · treasures
scrap
Discarded bit or tussle
iron · aluminum · wire · parts · components · machinery · vehicles · appliances · demolition · deconstruction
- Handmaid's TaleGilead, handmaid, handmaids, June, red cloak
- scavengingscavenging, rummage, foraging, forage, rummaging
- waste reductionreuse, recycle bin, refill, upcycle, downcycle
- destructiondestruction, destroying, demolishing, devastation, ruination
- extractionmining, excavation, distillation, filtration, extraction
- gathering activitiesforaging, berry picking, mushroom hunting, fruit picking, apple picking
salvagingabandoning
Leaving permanently behind
discarding · forsaking · deserting · relinquishing · leaving behind
salvagingdestroying
Causing complete ruin
demolishing · wrecking · ruining · trashing · obliterating
salvagingwasting
Using poorly, inefficiently
squandering · throwing away · frittering away · losing · neglecting
salvage, salvation, salvaged, salvages, salvageable, salvager, salvagers, unsalvaged