spare
adjEtymology
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”).
Definitions
Extra.
- I have no spare time.
- if that no spare cloths he had to give
Not plentiful.
- a spare diet
- Jones’ sad eyes betray a pervasive pain his purposefully spare dialogue only hints at, while the perfectly cast Brolin conveys hints of playfulness and warmth while staying true to the craggy stoicism at the character’s core.
Very angry
Very angry; frustrated or distraught.
- When he found out that someone had broken the window, he went spare.
- The poor girl is going spare, stuck in the house all day with the kids like that.
- “That'll drive him spare.”
›+ 14 more definitionsshow fewer
The act of sparing
The act of sparing; moderation; restraint.
- men slaine, then without any spare at all they trampled over the dead carkasses
Parsimony
Parsimony; frugal use.
- Pourd out their plenty, without spight or spare:
An opening in a petticoat or gown
An opening in a petticoat or gown; a placket.
That which has not been used or expended.
A spare part.
- I stopped to help out. Do you have a spare? [Said by one motorist to another with a flat tire.]
A superfluous or second-best person.
- an heir and a spare
- The whole Heir versus Spare thing? Wasn't it a bit late for that tired childhood dynamic?
The right of bowling again at a full set of pins, after having knocked all the pins down…
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
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 free period; a block of school during which one does not have a class.
- I also remember watching David Letterman's short-lived morning show on TV when I had a spare during my school schedule.
assistant or extra hand (typically on buses and lorries)
To show mercy, to have mercy on.
To keep.
- I, who at some times spend, at others spare, / Divided between carelessness and care.
(to give up)
(to give up): To deprive oneself of, as by being frugal; to do without; to dispense with; to give up; to part with.
- Where angry Jove did never spare / One breath of kind and temperate air.
- Poor Jack, farewell! / I could have better spared a better man
A surname transferred from the nickname.
The neighborhood
Derived
go spare, like a spare prick at a wedding, nonspare, spange, spanger, spare ball, spare change, sparely, spareness, spare part, sparer, spare rib, spare room, spare time, spare tire, spare tool, spare tyre, spare wheel, unspare, spary, donut spare, hot spare, spareful, spareless, don't spare the horses, forspare, spareable, spare a thought for, spare no effort, spare no expense, spare someone's blushes, spare someone the details, spare the rod and spoil the child, to spare, unspared
Vish — recursive loop
A definitional loop anchored at spare. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.
A definitional loop anchored at spare. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.
7 hops · closes at spare
curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA