spare

comparative sparer · superlative sparest

1. Extra.
   1. Being more than what is necessary, or what must be used or reserved; not wanted, or not used; superfluous.

      I have no spare time.

      1 more example

      if that no spare cloths he had to give

      1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 39

   2. Held in reserve, to be used in an emergency.

      a spare anchor; a spare wheel or tyre

   3. Not occupied or in current use.

      We could rent out the spare room.

      2 more examples

      Shepard: I take it this is your first time here? Wrex: Meant to tell you Shepard. Earth reminds me of home. Guess you'll be needing a new planet too. That's okay. Tuchanka's got room to spare and a guard dog named Kalros.

      2012, BioWare, Mass Effect 3, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Earth

      As the 1857 to Manchester Piccadilly rolls in, I scan the windows and realise there are plenty of spare seats, so I hop aboard. The train is a '221'+'220' combo to allow for social distancing - a luxury on an XC train as normally you're playing sardines, so I make the most of it.

      2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 68

2. Not plentiful.
   1. Scant; not abundant or plentiful.

      a spare diet

      1 more example

      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.

      2012 May 24, Nathan Rabin, “Film: Reviews: Men In Black 3”, in The Onion AV Club, archived from the original on 14 Aug 2013

   2. Austere, stripped down, without what is extraneous.

      I’m naked to the bone, With nakedness my shield. Myself is what I wear: I keep the spirit spare.

      1941, Theodore Roethke, “Open House”, in Open House, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →OCLC; republished in The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke, London: Faber and Faber […], 1968, →OCLC, page 3

   3. Sparing; frugal; parsimonious; not spending much money.

      He was spare, […]but discreet of speech.

      1609, Richard Carew, The Survey of Cornwall, London: […] S[imon] S[tafford] for Iohn Iaggard, […], →OCLC

      1 more example

      Under Hartmut Warkuss, its design director until 2003, Volkswagen styling celebrated its Teutonic origins and the spare modernist tradition expressed in Braun radios and coffee makers, reference points for the neomodern simplicity of the iPod.

      2009 April 12, Phil Patton, “At VW, the Italian Accent Gets Stronger”, in New York Times

   4. Lean; lacking flesh; meager; thin; gaunt.

      O, give me the spare men, and spare me the great ones.

      1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]

3. UKinformalVery angry; frustrated or distraught.

   When he found out that someone had broken the window, he went spare.

   3 more examples

   The poor girl is going spare, stuck in the house all day with the kids like that.

   “That'll drive him spare.”

   2006, Tate Hallaway, Tall, Dark & Dead

   My grandfather (unaware that he was using antique terms) would often say ruefully that I would drive him spare. The idea was that my behaviour would so dement him as to drive him berserk.

   2013, David Ovason, The Zelator

plural spares

1. The act of sparing; moderation; restraint.

   men slaine, then without any spare at all they trampled over the dead carkasses

   1659, T[itus] Livius [i.e., Livy], “(please specify the book number)”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Romane Historie […], London: […] W. Hunt, for George Sawbridge, […], →OCLC

2. Parsimony; frugal use.

   Pourd out their plenty, without spight or spare:

   1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 51

3. An opening in a petticoat or gown; a placket.
4. That which has not been used or expended.
5. A spare part.
   1. especiallyA spare tire.

      I stopped to help out. Do you have a spare? [Said by one motorist to another with a flat tire.]

   2. 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.

6. A superfluous or second-best person.

   an heir and a spare

   1 more example

   The whole Heir versus Spare thing? Wasn't it a bit late for that tired childhood dynamic?

   2023, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex; J. R. Moehringer, Spare, Penguin Random House, →ISBN

7. bowlingThe 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.
8. bowlingThe 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.
9. CanadaA 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.

   2010, Sandra Rinomato, Realty Check: Real Estate Secrets for First-Time Canadian Home Buyers

10. Myanmarassistant or extra hand (typically on buses and lorries)

present singular third person spares · participle present sparing · participle past spared · past spared · first person past singular spared · archaic present second person singular sparest · past second person singular spared · archaic past second person singular sparedst · present singular third person spares · archaic present singular third person spareth · past singular third person spared · past plural spared · past subjunctive spared · participle present sparing · participle past spared

1. To show mercy, to have mercy on.
   1. intransitiveTo desist; to stop; to refrain.
   2. intransitiveTo refrain from inflicting harm; to use mercy or forbearance.
   3. transitiveTo preserve (someone) from danger or punishment; to forbear to punish, injure, or harm (someone); to show mercy towards.

      For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.

      1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 6:34

      1 more example

      Cologne Hauptbahnhof is reached in the small hours, and the traveller new to postwar Germany is spared the sight of the devastated city.

      1949 September and October, “The "Nord Express"”, in Railway Magazine, page 336

   4. specificallytransitiveTo refrain from killing (someone) or having (someone) killed.

      Kill me, if you please, or spare me.

      1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC

      2 more examples

      Reggie Clemons has one last chance to save his life. After 19 years on death row in Missouri for the murder of two young women, he has been granted a final opportunity to persuade a judge that he should be spared execution by lethal injection.

      2012 August 21, Ed Pilkington, “Death penalty on trial: should Reggie Clemons live or die?”, in The Guardian

      In April of 2009, however, the disease was found to suddenly no longer be appearing in newly-hatched chickens, and, upon review, it was discovered that Dr. Wildcat had modified 6002 without authorization, removing the disease from the genome. She's detained and questioned by Muller, and, even though she tries to lie that she didn't do anything, they have footage of her ascending the tree on her own. Muller tells her that she can't just take it upon herself to decide what's best, as who knows what would've happened if she had made a mistake. She proceeds to cuss him out, and he gives her a choice, telling her that if she apologizes now, he'll put in a good word for her with the O5 Council, which might spare her. She's silent for a moment, but does end up apologizing.

      2021 August 16, “Exploring the SCP Foundation: SCP-6002 - All Creatures Great and Small” (19:06 from the start), in The Exploring Series, archived from the original on 10 Jan 2023

2. To keep.
   1. intransitiveTo be frugal; to not be profuse; to live frugally; to be parsimonious.

      I, who at some times spend, at others spare, / Divided between carelessness and care.

      1737, Alexander Pope, The Second Epistle of the Second Book of Horace, Imitated by Mr. Pope

   2. transitiveTo keep to oneself; to forbear to impart or give.

      Thou that day / Thy Father's dreadful thunder didst not spare

      1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC

      1 more example

      He that hath knowledge, spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.

      1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 17:27

   3. transitiveTo save or gain, as by frugality; to reserve, as from some occupation, use, or duty.

      All the time he could spare from the necessary cares of his weighty charge, from assaults, and the naturall refreshing of his body, be bestowed in praier and seruing of God

      1610, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes, from the First Beginning of that Nation, page 580

3. transitive(to give up): To deprive oneself of, as by being frugal; to do without; to dispense with; to give up; to part with.

   Poor Jack, farewell! / I could have better spared a better man

   c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iv]

   3 more examples

   Where angry Jove did never spare / One breath of kind and temperate air.

   a. 1779, Earl of Roscommon, “The Twenty-second Ode of the First Book of Horace”

   Not unnaturally, “Auntie” took this communication in bad part.[…]Next day she[…]tried to recover her ward by the hair of the head. Then, thwarted, the wretched creature went to the police for help; she was versed in the law, and perhaps had spared no pains to keep on good terms with the local constabulary.

   1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XLIV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 361

   At Southall, we believe, it has been difficult to spare men from an understaffed motive power establishment to undergo non revenue-earning training on the diesel multiple-units, because crews are scarce for trip freight working.

   1960 April, “Talking of Trains: The present difficulties”, in Trains Illustrated, page 193

plural Spares

1. A surname transferred from the nickname.