Preserve from damage caused absorbing nearly everything (9)
I believe the answer is:
marmalade
'preserve' is the definition.
(marmalade is a kind of preserve)
'damage caused absorbing nearly everything' is the wordplay.
'damage' becomes 'mar' (marring is a kind of damaging).
'caused' becomes 'made' (making is a kind of causing).
'absorbing' indicates putting letters inside.
'nearly' means to remove the last letter.
'everything' becomes 'all' (I've seen this before).
'all' with its last letter taken off is 'al'.
'made' enclosing 'al' is 'malade'.
'mar'+'malade'='MARMALADE'
'from' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for marmalade that I've seen before include "Spread" , "Kind of cat" , "Sweet food" , "Breakfast preserve" , "Preserve made with citrus fruits" .)