life raft

Definitions

1. A usually inflatable raft carried aboard a ship or airplane, used to save lives in case the vessel has to be abandoned in an emergency on the sea.
2. Something that provides help in a state of difficulty or despair.
   figuratively

Equivalents

Examples

“For Mr. Kim, a mediocre middle school student who was often in trouble⟳, Stuyvesant, from which he graduated in 1993, was a life raft. Now, as the president of Stuyvesant’s alumni organization, an advocacy group with deep ties to politicians, he has one of the most powerful voices in the debate⟳ about specialized school admissions.”

CEFR level