adj.
- additional to what is required for ordinary use.
▸not currently in use or occupied.
▸(of time) available for leisure.
- with no excess fat; thin.
- elegantly simple.
n.
- an item kept in case another item of the same type is lost, broken, or worn out.
- (in tenpin bowling) an act of knocking down all the pins with two balls.
v.
- give (something of which one has enough) to (someone).
▸make free or available.
- refrain from killing or harming.
▸refrain from inflicting (harm) on (someone):
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they have been spared the violence.
- archaic be frugal.
Phrase
- go spare
Brit. informal become extremely angry or distraught. - spare no expense
(or no expense spared)
be prepared to pay any amount. - to spare
left over.
Derivative
- sparely adv.
- spareness n.
Etymology
OE spær ‘not plentiful, meagre’, sparian ‘refrain from injuring or using’, of Gmc origin.
