spare

Meanings

Adjective

Noun

  • The act of sparing; moderation; restraint.
  • Parsimony; frugal use.
  • An opening in a petticoat or gown; a placket.
  • That which has not been used or expended.
  • A spare part, especially a spare tire.
  • A superfluous or second-best person, specially (in a dynastic context) in the phrase "An heir and a spare".
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • A free period; a block of school during which one does not have a class.

Verb

  • To show mercy.
  • To keep.
  • To deprive oneself of, as by being frugal; to do without; to dispense with; to give up; to part with.

Origin

  • From Middle English spare, spar, from Old English spær ("sparing, scant"), from Proto-Germanic *sparaz (compare with Dutch spaarzaam, German sparsam and spärlich, Swedish sparsam, Icelandic sparr ("sparing")), from Proto-Indo-European *sper- (compare Latin prosperus, Old Church Slavonic споръ, Albanian shperr, Persian سپار, Ancient Greek σπαρνός, Sanskrit स्फिर).
  • From Middle English sparen, sparien, from Old English sparian ("to spare, show mercy to, refrain from injuring or destroying"), from Proto-Germanic *sparōną, *sparāną, from Proto-Indo-European *sper- ("to be productive, earn"). Cognate with Scots spar, spare, spair, 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").

Modern English dictionary

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