Bar close to ground reserved (5)
I believe the answer is:
saved
'reserved' is the definition.
(saving is a kind of reserving)
'bar close to ground' is the wordplay.
'bar' becomes 'save' (both can mean 'except').
'close to' says to take the final letters (the close of something is the end).
The final letter of 'ground' is 'd'.
'save'+'d'='SAVED'
(Other definitions for saved that I've seen before include "Rescued; put by" , "Prevented from dying" , "what Jesus did" , "Preserved" , "Stored for future use" .)