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Spare
Definitions
- 1 Extra.; Being more than what is necessary, or what must be used or reserved; not wanted, or not used; superfluous.
"I have no spare time."
- 2 Extra.; Held in reserve, to be used in an emergency.
"a spare anchor; a spare wheel or tyre"
- 3 Extra.; Not occupied or in current use.
"We could rent out the spare room."
- 4 Not plentiful.; Scant; not abundant or plentiful.
"a spare diet"
- 5 Not plentiful.; Austere, stripped down, without what is extraneous.
"I’m naked to the bone, With nakedness my shield. Myself is what I wear: I keep the spirit spare."
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- 6 Not plentiful.; Sparing; frugal; parsimonious; not spending much money.
"He was spare, […]but discreet of speech."
- 7 Not plentiful.; Lean; lacking flesh; meager; thin; gaunt.
"O, give me the spare men, and spare me the great ones."
- 8 Very angry; frustrated or distraught. UK, informal
"When he found out that someone had broken the window, he went spare."
- 1 lacking embellishment or ornamentation wordnet
- 2 lacking in magnitude or quantity wordnet
- 3 thin and fit wordnet
- 4 more than is needed, desired, or required wordnet
- 5 kept in reserve especially for emergency use wordnet
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- 6 not taken up by scheduled activities wordnet
- 1 A surname transferred from the nickname.
- 1 The act of sparing; moderation; restraint.
"men slaine, then without any spare at all they trampled over the dead carkasses"
- 2 a score in tenpins; knocking down all ten after rolling two balls wordnet
- 3 Parsimony; frugal use.
"Pourd out their plenty, without spight or spare:"
- 4 an extra car wheel and tire for a four-wheel vehicle wordnet
- 5 An opening in a petticoat or gown; a placket.
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- 6 an extra component of a machine or other apparatus wordnet
- 7 That which has not been used or expended.
- 8 A spare part, especially a spare tire.
- 9 A superfluous or second-best person.
"an heir and a spare"
- 10 The right of bowling again at a full set of pins, after having knocked all the pins down in less than three bowls. If all the pins are knocked down in one bowl it is a double spare; in two bowls, a single spare.
- 11 The act of knocking down all remaining pins in second ball of a frame; this entitles the pins knocked down on the next ball to be added to the score for that frame.
- 12 A free period; a block of school during which one does not have a class. Canada
"I also remember watching David Letterman's short-lived morning show on TV when I had a spare during my school schedule."
- 13 assistant or extra hand (typically on buses and lorries) Myanmar
- 1 To show mercy, to have mercy on.; To desist; to stop; to refrain. intransitive
- 2 use frugally or carefully wordnet
- 3 To show mercy, to have mercy on.; To refrain from inflicting harm; to use mercy or forbearance. intransitive
- 4 give up what is not strictly needed wordnet
- 5 To show mercy, to have mercy on.; To preserve (someone) from danger or punishment; to forbear to punish, injure, or harm (someone); to show mercy towards. transitive
"For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance."
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- 6 refrain from harming wordnet
- 7 To show mercy, to have mercy on.; To preserve (someone) from danger or punishment; to forbear to punish, injure, or harm (someone); to show mercy towards.; To refrain from killing (someone) or having (someone) killed. specifically, transitive
"Kill me, if you please, or spare me."
- 8 save or relieve from an experience or action wordnet
- 9 To keep.; To be frugal; to not be profuse; to live frugally; to be parsimonious. intransitive
"I, who at some times spend, at others spare, / Divided between carelessness and care."
- 10 To keep.; To keep to oneself; to forbear to impart or give. transitive
"Thou that day / Thy Father's dreadful thunder didst not spare"
- 11 To keep.; To save or gain, as by frugality; to reserve, as from some occupation, use, or duty. transitive
"All the time he could spare from the necessary cares of his weighty charge, from assaults, and the naturall refreshing of his body, be bestowed in praier and seruing of God"
- 12 (to give up): To deprive oneself of, as by being frugal; to do without; to dispense with; to give up; to part with. transitive
"Where angry Jove did never spare / One breath of kind and temperate air."
Etymology
From Middle English spare, spar, from Old English spær (“sparing, scant”), from Proto-Germanic *sparaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sph₁rós, from the root *speh₁-. Compare Dutch spaar(zaam), German spar(sam) and spär(lich), Swedish spar(sam), Icelandic sparr (“sparing”); also Latin (pro)sperus (“lucky”), Old Church Slavonic споръ (sporŭ, “plentiful”), Albanian shperr (“earn money”), Persian سپار (sepâr, “entrust; deposit”), Ancient Greek σπαρνός (sparnós, “rare”), Sanskrit स्फिर (sphirá, “thick”).
From Middle English spare, spar, from Old English spær (“sparing, scant”), from Proto-Germanic *sparaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sph₁rós, from the root *speh₁-. Compare Dutch spaar(zaam), German spar(sam) and spär(lich), Swedish spar(sam), Icelandic sparr (“sparing”); also Latin (pro)sperus (“lucky”), Old Church Slavonic споръ (sporŭ, “plentiful”), Albanian shperr (“earn money”), Persian سپار (sepâr, “entrust; deposit”), Ancient Greek σπαρνός (sparnós, “rare”), Sanskrit स्फिर (sphirá, “thick”).
From Middle English sparen, sparien, from Old English sparian (“to spare, show mercy to, refrain from injuring or destroying”), from Proto-Germanic *sparōną, *sparāną (“to save, keep, spare”), from Proto-Indo-European *sper- (“to be productive, earn”). Cognate with Scots spar, spare, spair (“to spare”), West Frisian sparje (“to save, spare”), Dutch sparen (“to save, spare”), German sparen (“to save, conserve, economise”), Swedish spara (“to save, save up”), Icelandic spara (“to save, conserve”).
From spare, a nickname for a frugal person.
See also for "spare"
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