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adjective
1.
economical (often followed by in or of).
2.
lenient or merciful.
3.
scanty; limited.
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Sparing
is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| a fool or simpleton; ninny. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
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.
EXPANDto refrain from employing, as some instrument or recourse: to spare the rod.
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.
COLLAPSEto have remaining as excess or surplus: We can make the curtains and have a yard to spare.
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.
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.
EXPANDscanty or scant, as in amount or fullness.
19.
COLLAPSEsparing, economical, or temperate, as persons.
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
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
Related forms
spare·a·ble, adjective
spare·ly, adverb
spare·ness, noun
spar·er, noun
un·spared, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To sparing
Collins
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
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"
EXPANDis 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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