SPARE


Meaning of SPARE in English

I. ˈspa(a)](ə)r, -pe], ]ə\ verb

( -ed/-ing/-s )

Etymology: Middle English sparen, from Old English sparian; akin to Old Frisian sparia to spare, Old High German sparōn, sparēn, Old Norse spara; derivatives from the root of English spare (II)

transitive verb

1. : to forbear to destroy, punish, or harm : preserve from punishment, injury, or evil : show mercy to

spare , O Lord, this miserable sinner

many ships were sunk but a few were spared

woodman, spare that tree — G.P.Morris

2. : to refrain from attacking, scolding, reprimanding, or speaking with necessary or salutary severity to

his sermons spared neither high nor low, rich nor poor

does not spare the U.N. and he recommends that it set its house in order — Chester Bowles

3. : to relieve (someone) of the necessity of doing or undergoing something : exempt

spare him the trouble of answering

wanted to spare his parents the expense of sending him to college

spare yourself quite a bit of … weeding — New Yorker

4. : to refrain from : avoid

nothing is spared to … make you comfortable — T.H.Fielding

5.

a. : to use stintingly or frugally : refrain from the free use or consumption of

spare the rod and spoil the child

— chiefly in negative use

more pancakes, please, and don't spare the syrup

come at once and don't spare the horses

substantial homes with no sparing of paint — R.W.Hatch

b. dialect chiefly Britain : save 2a

rob a poor man of all he had spared — Augusta Gregory

6.

a. : to give up or part with as being not strictly needed : dispense with as surplus or extra

could have better spared a better man — Shakespeare

giving employment … to villagers who can be spared from the farms — Geographical School Bulletin

b. : to have left over or as margin

caught the train with a few minutes to spare

that rug will cover the floor with a foot to spare

intransitive verb

1. obsolete : desist , stop

2. : to be frugal : live in a saving and stinting manner

some will spend and some will spare — Robert Burns

3. : to refrain from executing judgment or punishment or taking vengeance : use mercy or kindness : be lenient

- and to spare

II. adjective

( -er/-est )

Etymology: Middle English, from Old English spær; akin to Old High German spar spare, Old Norse sparr spare, Old Slavic sporŭ abundant, Old English spēd success, speed — more at speed

1. : not being used : held for future or emergency use

spare bedroom

spare tire

spare anchor

2. : being over and above what is necessary : not wanted : not presently needed : free , superfluous

a hobby to occupy his spare time

have you any spare cash you could lend me

3. : not liberal or profuse : sparing , chary

habitually spare of speech

build up the truth of his characters through spare , pungent dialogue — Arthur Knight

tale proceeds with a spare and lucid simplicity — Times Literary Supplement

4. : lacking fat : somewhat thin : lean

spare , alert, and jaunty figure — Thomas Wolfe

some like their beauty to be luxurious; others see beauty in the gaunt and the spare — Richard Joseph

5. : not abundant or plentiful : meager , scanty

spare diet

spare vegetation

Synonyms: see lean , meager

III. noun

( -s )

Etymology: Middle English, from sparen, v.

1. obsolete : an act of showing restraint or mercy — used especially in the phrase without spare

2. archaic : placket

3. archaic : frugal use : economy , frugality — used with make

4.

a. : a spare tire

b. : a duplicate (as a battery, a pair of eyeglasses) kept in reserve

c. chiefly Britain : spare part

d. : an extra member of a sports team

5. : the knocking down of all 10 pins with the first 2 bowls of a frame in bowling — compare strike

6. : surplus clay trimmed off the mold in the slip-casting process

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.