salt away

salt away

To put something into storage for use at a later date. An allusion to preserving foods, especially meats, by curing them with salt. A noun or pronoun can be used between "salt" and "away." Over the years I've taken to salting away lots of bottled water and nonperishable foods, in case of an emergency. You'd be wise to salt some of your paycheck away each month.
See also: away, salt
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

salt something away

 
1. Lit. to store and preserve a foodstuff by salting it. The farmer's wife salted a lot of fish and hams away for the winter. She salted away a lot of food.
2. Fig. to store something; to place something in reserve. I need to salt some money away for my retirement. I will salt away some money for emergencies.
See also: away, salt
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

salt away

Also, salt down. Keep in reserve, store, save, as in He salted away most of his earnings in a bank account. This idiom alludes to using salt as a food preservative. [Mid-1800s]
See also: away, salt
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

salt away

v.
To save or store something for future use: I salted away money from my summer job to pay for college. I bought 20 packs of paper towels that were on sale, and I salted them away.
See also: away, salt
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.

salt away, to

To put aside funds for future use. Treating fish or meat with salt is an ancient way of preserving it, antedating modern refrigeration by centuries. In the nineteenth century the term, also put as to salt down, began to be used figuratively for saving money. “No one to hinder you from salting away as many millions as you can carry off!” wrote R. W. Chambers (Maids of Paradise, 1902). Also see save for a rainy day.
See also: salt
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • load in
  • involve with
  • involve with (someone or something)
  • involved with
  • back into
  • back into (someone or something)
  • add in
  • angle
  • angling
  • not do (someone or oneself) any favors
References in periodicals archive
'It's no use kidding ourselves that if we salt away a few pounds here and there we can go on borrowing like there's no tomorrow.'
Personal Finance: Britons told to mind the savings gap
Apparently, Mr Mobutu has managed to salt away US$50m beyond the reach of the sequestrators, and he's willing to give our reporter no less than 20pc of those funds for his help.
Westgate: Appealing e-mail
Reader John Nairn from Paisley raised an interesting point when he wrote: "Tell me Joe, how much did Kinane salt away for his armchair ride on Montjeu last Saturday?
Horse Racing: Johnny come lately
After that they are replaced by ISA - Individual Savings Accounts - with less generous limits on how much you can salt away from the taxman each financial year.
Money matters: Last chance on PEPs
The smallest sum you can salt away for tax-free returns at the moment is through a friendly society, like Liverpool & Victoria, Homeowners and Family Assurance.
SAVE THE FRIENDLY WAY
Determining how much to salt away can be staggering, considering what's ahead.
It's a family affair
WORKERS are finally starting to salt away more cash in UK pension schemes.
Your MONEY: New pension rules spark a pounds 4.8bn boom; CASHPOINT
Highway teams will be salting road surfaces but there is a danger that rainfall could wash the salt away before freezing again.
Book still a best-seller
Due to freezing conditions, the groundsman cannot water the track as per normal, and, until rain washes the salt away, railers rule.
Get It Ready: Making it pay This week: taking advantage of track bias in winter
A solicitor who helped an imprisoned bootleg baron salt away a staggering pounds 30 million fortune was jailed yesterday for seven years.
Jail for solicitor's role in 'prison empire'
JUST how much dosh did the bookies salt away in yesterday's Tripleprint Gold Cup?
Bookies in Malta holiday
Investors are busy grabbing their last chance of the 1997-98 tax year to salt away money tax-free in shares held through PEPs.
Get flush in the big Pep rush: MONEY MATTERS
With a personal pension, you can salt away up to 17.5 per cent of your income up to age 35, rising to 20 per cent for 36-45s, 25 per cent for 46-50s, 30 per cent for 51-55s to a maximum of 40 per cent.
TACKLE YOUR PENSION NOW ...AND RETIRE AT LEISURE; HOW TO MAKE THE MOST OUT OF YOUR MONEY
But despite the rise, many people failed to salt away as much as planned, Lloyds TSB Savings said.
Savings increase