sparing
Use Sparing in a sentence
ɪŋDictionary.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.
to 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.
to 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.
scanty or scant, as in amount or fullness.
19.
sparing, 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. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To sparing
Collins
World English Dictionary
spare (spɛə) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | (tr) to refrain from killing, punishing, harming, or injuring |
| 2. | (tr) to release or relieve, as from pain, suffering, etc |
| 3. | (tr) to refrain from using: spare the rod, spoil the child |
| 4. | (tr) to be able to afford or give: I can't spare the time |
| 5. | (usually passive) (esp of Providence) to allow to survive: I'll see you again next year if we are spared |
| 6. | rare (intr) to act or live frugally |
| 7. | rare (intr) to show mercy |
| 8. | not spare oneself to exert oneself to the full |
| 9. | to spare more than is required: two minutes to spare |
| —adj | |
| 10. | (often immediately postpositive) in excess of what is needed; additional: are there any seats spare? |
| 11. | able to be used when needed: a spare part |
| 12. | (of a person) thin and lean |
| 13. | scanty or meagre |
| 14. | slang (Brit) (postpositive) upset, angry, or distracted (esp in the phrase go spare) |
| —n | |
| 15. | a duplicate kept as a replacement in case of damage or loss |
| 16. | a spare tyre |
| 17. | tenpin bowling |
| a. the act of knocking down all the pins with the two bowls of a single frame | |
| b. Compare strike the score thus made | |
| [Old English sparian to refrain from injuring; related to Old Norse spara, Old High German sparōn] | |
| 'sparely | |
| —adv | |
| 'spareness | |
| —n | |
| 'sparer | |
| —n | |
| sparing (ˈspɛərɪŋ) | |
| —adj (sometimes foll by with | |
| 1. | economical or frugal (with) |
| 2. | scanty; meagre |
| 3. | merciful or lenient |
| 'sparingly | |
| —adv | |
| 'sparingness | |
| —n | |
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"
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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
She was always careful in her dress and sparing of new clothes.
Of course development does not mean no sparing, and neither does it means unrestrained consumption of any goods available.
But instead of depleting glycogen stores and tiring the muscles, the animals suddenly switch to a glycogen-sparing metabolism.
Boxing should be banned, sparing us the fodder for future boxing sagas and slow-motion chugs around the ring.
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