spare
UK /spɛə(ɹ)/ · US /spɛɚ/ adjective, noun, verb, proper noun
Forms sparer sparest spares sparing spared sparedst spareth
- adjective Being more than what is necessary, or what must be used or reserved; not wanted, or not used; superfluous. “I have no spare time.”
- adjective Held in reserve, to be used in an emergency. “a spare anchor; a spare wheel or tyre”
- adjective Not occupied or in current use. “We could rent out the spare room.”
- adjective Scant; not abundant or plentiful. “a spare diet”
- adjective Austere, stripped down, without what is extraneous.
- adjective Sparing; frugal; parsimonious; not spending much money.
- adjective Lean; lacking flesh; meager; thin; gaunt.
- adjective (UK, informal) Very angry; frustrated or distraught. “When he found out that someone had broken the window, he went spare.”
- noun The act of sparing; moderation; restraint.
- noun Parsimony; frugal use.
- noun An opening in a petticoat or gown; a placket.
- noun That which has not been used or expended.
- noun (especially) A spare tire. “I stopped to help out. Do you have a spare? [Said by one motorist to another with a flat tire.]”
- noun Any car part or comparable machine part in a supply chain. “People sometimes forget that world-class logistics also involve inventory management in warehouses full of spares.”
- noun A superfluous or second-best person. “an heir and a spare”
- noun (bowling) 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.
- verb (intransitive) To desist; to stop; to refrain.
- verb (intransitive) To refrain from inflicting harm; to use mercy or forbearance.
- verb (transitive) To preserve (someone) from danger or punishment; to forbear to punish, injure, or harm (someone); to show mercy towards.
- verb (specifically) To refrain from killing (someone) or having (someone) killed.
Synonyms
spare part fifth wheel save give up part with dispense with trim excess extra redundant supererogatory superfluous supernumerary surplus free bare scanty plain unembellished unornamented
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 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.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To use frugally or stintingly, as that which is scarce or valuable; to retain or keep unused; to save. "No cost would he spare." Chaucer.
- verb To keep to one's self; to forbear to impart or give.
- verb To be frugal; not to be profuse; to live frugally; to be parsimonious.
- verb To refrain from inflicting harm; to use mercy or forbearance.
Etymology [AS. sparian, fr. spær spare, sparing, saving; akin to D. & G. sparen, OHG. spar, Icel. & Sw. spara, Dan. spare See Spare, a.]
Etymology [AS. spær sparing. Cf. Spare, v. t.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “spare”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details