salt away

An allusion to the preservation of food in salt.

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salt away (third-person singular simple present salts away, present participle salting away, simple past and past participle salted away)

1. (transitive, idiomatic) To save or preserve (especially money) for future use.
   • 1863, James Fenimore Cooper, chapter 2, in Miles Wallingford‎:

     "You have more than two thousand salted away, I know, Moses, between prize-money, wages, adventures, and other matters."

   • 1908, O. Henry, “Tempered Wind”, in The Gentle Grafter:

     Some of the stockholders . . . wanted to leave the money invested. "Salt away that chicken feed in your duds, and skip along," says Buck. "What business have you got investing in bonds?"