Nearby Words

spares

Origin

spare

[spair] ,verb, spared, spar·ing, adjective, spar·er, spar·est, noun
verb (used with object)
1.
to refrain from harming or destroying; leave uninjured; forbear to punish, hurt, or destroy: to spare one's enemy.
2.
to deal gently or leniently with; show consideration for: His harsh criticism spared no one.
3.
to save from strain, discomfort, embarrassment, or the like, or from a particular cause of it: to spare him the bother; to spare her needless embarrassment.
4.
to refrain from, forbear, omit, or withhold, as action or speech: Spare us the gory details.
5.
to refrain from employing, as some instrument or recourse: to spare the rod.
EXPAND
6.
to set aside for a particular purpose: to spare land for a garden.
7.
to give or lend, as from a supply, especially without inconvenience or loss: Can you spare a cup of sugar? Can you spare me a dollar till payday?
8.
to dispense with or do without: We can't spare a single worker during the rush hour.
9.
to use economically or frugally; refrain from using up or wasting: A walnut sundae, and don't spare the whipped cream!
10.
to have remaining as excess or surplus: We can make the curtains and have a yard to spare.
COLLAPSE
verb (used without object)
11.
to use economy; be frugal.
12.
to refrain from inflicting injury or punishment; exercise lenience or mercy.
13.
Obsolete. to refrain from action; forbear.

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Spares is always a great word to know.
So is gobo. Does it mean:
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
adjective
14.
kept in reserve, as for possible use: a spare part.
15.
being in excess of present need; free for other use: spare time.
16.
frugally restricted or meager, as a manner of living or a diet: a spare regime.
17.
lean or thin, as a person.
18.
scanty or scant, as in amount or fullness.
EXPAND
19.
sparing, economical, or temperate, as persons.
COLLAPSE
noun
20.
a spare thing, part, etc., as an extra tire for emergency use.
21.
Ceramics. an area at the top of a plaster mold for holding excess slip.
22.
Bowling.
a.
the knocking down of all the pins with two bowls.
b.
a score so made. Compare strike (def. 69).

Origin:
before 900; (v.) Middle English sparen, Old English sparian; cognate with Dutch, German sparen, Old Norse spara; (noun and adj.) Middle English; compare Old English spær sparing, frugal (cognate with Old High German spar, Old Norse sparr

spare·a·ble, adjective
spare·ly, adverb
spare·ness, noun
spar·er, noun
un·spared, adjective


6. reserve. 14, 15. extra. 17. See thin.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

spare
O.E. sparian "to refrain from harming, to allow to go free," from the source of O.E. spær "sparing, frugal," from P.Gmc. *sparaz (cf. O.Fris. sparia, O.N. spara, O.H.G. sparon "to spare"). Meaning "to dispense from one's own stock" is recorded from early 13c. The adj. meaning "additional, extra"
EXPAND
is attested from c.1300. In ref. to time, from 1610; sense of "flimsy, thin" is recorded from 1540s. Spare part is attested from 1888. The noun meaning "extra thing or part" is from 1640s. Bowling sense of "a knocking down of all pins in two bowls" is attested from 1849, Amer.Eng.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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