spare
pronunciation
How to pronounce spare in British English:
UK [speə(r)]
How to pronounce spare in American English:
US [sper]
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- Noun:
- an extra component of a machine or other apparatus
- an extra car wheel and tire for a four-wheel vehicle
- a score in tenpins; knocking down all ten after rolling two balls
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- Verb:
- refrain from harming
- save or relieve from an experience or action
- give up what is not strictly needed
- use frugally or carefully
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- Adjective:
- thin and fit
- more than is needed, desired, or required
- just sufficient
- not taken up by scheduled activities
- kept in reserve especially for emergency use
- lacking in amplitude or quantity
Word Origin
- spare (adj.)
- "kept in reserve, not used, provided or held for extra need," late 14c., from or from the same root as spare (v.). Old English had spær "sparing, frugal." Also compare Old Norse sparr "(to be) spared." In reference to time, from mid-15c.; sense of "lacking in substance; lean, gaunt; flimsy, thin; poor," is recorded from 1540s. Spare part is attested from 1888. Spare tire is from 1894 of bicycles; 1903 of automobiles; 1961 of waistlines.
- spare (v.)
- Old English sparian "to refrain from harming, be indulgent to, allow to go free; use sparingly," from the source of Old English spær "sparing, frugal," from Proto-Germanic *sparaz (cognates: Old Saxon sparon, Old Frisian sparia, Old Norse spara, Dutch sparen, Old High German sparon, German sparen "to spare"). Meaning "to dispense from one's own stock, give or yield up," is recorded from early 13c. Related: Spared; sparing.
- spare (n.)
- "extra thing or part," 1640s, from spare (adj.). The Middle English noun sense was "a sparing, mercy, leniency" (early 14c.). Bowling game sense of "an advantage gained by a knocking down of all pins in two bowls" is attested from 1843, American English.
Antonym
Example
- 1. Would anyone have some spare jepps showing iranian airspace ?
- 2. Carrying spare segments adds to a vehicle 's weight .
- 3. The problem was resolved with seconds to spare , clearing discovery for launch .
- 4. Mr rudd has little political capital to spare on a fight over mining .
- 5. That will add to their costs , but could spare them next time .