Sekirov Dictionary

spare

UK /spɛə(ɹ)/US /spɛɚ/

adjective 10
noun 12
verb 10
forms 7
phrases 4

adjective10

•
more than is needed, and not wanted or used
- I have no spare time.
Extra.
Held in reserve, to be used in an emergency.
•
Not occupied or in current use.
- We could rent out the spare room.
•
(UK, informal) 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.
Not plentiful.
Scant; not abundant or plentiful.
•
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
•
Lean; lacking flesh; meager; thin; gaunt.
- O, give me the spare men, and spare me the great ones. — 1591
•
Sparing; frugal; parsimonious; not spending much money.
- He was spare, […]but discreet of speech. — 1609

noun12

That which has not been used or expended.
A spare part.
•
A spare tire.
- I stopped to help out. Do you have a spare? [Said by one motorist to another with a flat tire.]
•
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.
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 superfluous or second-best person.
- The whole Heir versus Spare thing? Wasn't it a bit late for that tired childhood dynamic? — 2023
•
(Canada) 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. — 2010
•
The act of sparing; moderation; restraint.
- men slaine, then without any spare at all they trampled over the dead carkasses — 1659
Parsimony; frugal use.
assistant or extra hand (typically on buses and lorries)
An opening in a petticoat or gown; a placket.

verb10

To show mercy, to have mercy on.
•
(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. — 1779
To refrain from inflicting harm; to use mercy or forbearance.
•
To 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
•
To refrain from killing (someone) or having (someone) killed.
- Kill me, if you please, or spare me. — 1881
To keep.
•
To keep to oneself; to forbear to impart or give.
- He that hath knowledge, spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit. — 1611
•
To 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
To desist; to stop; to refrain.
•
To 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

forms

spared · sparing · spares · spareth · sparest · sparer · sparest

Phrases with spare

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