Etymology From Middle English spare, spar, from Old English spær (“sparing, scant”), from Proto-Germanic *sparaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sph₁rós, from the root *speh₁-. Compare Dutch spaar(zaam), German spar(sam) and spär(lich), Swedish spar(sam), Icelandic sparr (“sparing”); also Latin (pro)sperus (“lucky”), Old Church Slavonic споръ (sporŭ, “plentiful”), Albanian shperr (“earn money”), Persian سپار (sepâr, “entrust; deposit”), Ancient Greek σπαρνός (sparnós, “rare”), Sanskrit स्फिर (sphirá, “thick”).
Being more than what is necessary, or what must be used or reserved; not wanted, or not used; superfluous.
I have no spare time.
if that no spare cloths he had to give1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 39:
2
Held in reserve, to be used in an emergency.
a spare anchor; a spare wheel or tyre
3
Not occupied or in current use.
We could rent out the spare room.
Shepard: I take it this is your first time here? Wrex: Meant to tell you Shepard. Earth reminds me of home. Guess you'll be needing a new planet too. That's okay. Tuchanka's got room to spare and a guard dog named Kalros.2012, BioWare, Mass Effect 3, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Earth:
1 more example
As the 1857 to Manchester Piccadilly rolls in, I scan the windows and realise there are plenty of spare seats, so I hop aboard. The train is a '221'+'220' combo to allow for social distancing - a luxury on an XC train as normally you're playing sardines, so I make the most of it.2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 68:
› Not plentiful.
4
Scant; not abundant or plentiful.
a spare diet
Jones’ sad eyes betray a pervasive pain his purposefully spare dialogue only hints at, while the perfectly cast Brolin conveys hints of playfulness and warmth while staying true to the craggy stoicism at the character’s core.2012 May 24, Nathan Rabin, “Film: Reviews: Men In Black 3”, in The Onion AV Club:
5
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, Theodore Roethke, “Open House”, in Open House, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →OCLC; republished in The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke, London: Faber and Faber […], 1968, →OCLC, page 3:
6
Sparing; frugal; parsimonious; not spending much money.
He was spare, […]but discreet of speech.1609, Richard Carew, The Survey of Cornwall, London: […] S[imon] S[tafford] for Iohn Iaggard, […], →OCLC:
Under Hartmut Warkuss, its design director until 2003, Volkswagen styling celebrated its Teutonic origins and the spare modernist tradition expressed in Braun radios and coffee makers, reference points for the neomodern simplicity of the iPod.2009 April 12, Phil Patton, “At VW, the Italian Accent Gets Stronger”, in New York Times:
7
Lean; lacking flesh; meager; thin; gaunt.
O, give me the spare men, and spare me the great ones.1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
8
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.
2 more examples
“That'll drive him spare.”2006, Tate Hallaway, Tall, Dark & Dead:
My grandfather (unaware that he was using antique terms) would often say ruefully that I would drive him spare. The idea was that my behaviour would so dement him as to drive him berserk.2013, David Ovason, The Zelator:
Etymology From Middle English spare, spar, from Old English spær (“sparing, scant”), from Proto-Germanic *sparaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sph₁rós, from the root *speh₁-. Compare Dutch spaar(zaam), German spar(sam) and spär(lich), Swedish spar(sam), Icelandic sparr (“sparing”); also Latin (pro)sperus (“lucky”), Old Church Slavonic споръ (sporŭ, “plentiful”), Albanian shperr (“earn money”), Persian سپار (sepâr, “entrust; deposit”), Ancient Greek σπαρνός (sparnós, “rare”), Sanskrit स्फिर (sphirá, “thick”).
men slaine, then without any spare at all they trampled over the dead carkasses1659, T[itus] Livius [i.e., Livy], “(please specify the book number)”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Romane Historie […], London: […] W. Hunt, for George Sawbridge, […], →OCLC:
2
Parsimony; frugal use.
Pourd out their plenty, without spight or spare:1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 51:
3
An opening in a petticoat or gown; a placket.
4
That which has not been used or expended.
› A spare part.
5
Especially A spare tire.
I stopped to help out. Do you have a spare? [Said by one motorist to another with a flat tire.]
6
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.
7
A superfluous or second-best person.
an heir and a spare
The whole Heir versus Spare thing? Wasn't it a bit late for that tired childhood dynamic?2023, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex; J. R. Moehringer, Spare, Penguin Random House, →ISBN:
8
Bowling, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports 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.
9
Bowling, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports 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.
10
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, Sandra Rinomato, Realty Check: Real Estate Secrets for First-Time Canadian Home Buyers:
11
Myanmar assistant or extra hand (typically on buses and lorries)
Etymology From Middle English sparen, sparien, from Old English sparian (“to spare, show mercy to, refrain from injuring or destroying”), from Proto-Germanic *sparōną, *sparāną (“to save, keep, spare”), from Proto-Indo-European *sper- (“to be productive, earn”). Cognate with Scots spar, spare, spair (“to spare”), West Frisian sparje (“to save, spare”), Dutch sparen (“to save, spare”), German sparen (“to save, conserve, economise”), Swedish spara (“to save, save up”), Icelandic spara (“to save, conserve”).
To refrain from inflicting harm; to use mercy or forbearance.
3
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, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 6:34:
Cologne Hauptbahnhof is reached in the small hours, and the traveller new to postwar Germany is spared the sight of the devastated city.1949 September and October, “The "Nord Express"”, in Railway Magazine, page 336:
› To show mercy, to have mercy on. › To preserve (someone) from danger or…
4
Specifically To refrain from killing (someone) or having (someone) killed.
Kill me, if you please, or spare me.1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:
Reggie Clemons has one last chance to save his life. After 19 years on death row in Missouri for the murder of two young women, he has been granted a final opportunity to persuade a judge that he should be spared execution by lethal injection.2012 August 21, Ed Pilkington, “Death penalty on trial: should Reggie Clemons live or die?”, in The Guardian:
1 more example
In April of 2009, however, the disease was found to suddenly no longer be appearing in newly-hatched chickens, and, upon review, it was discovered that Dr. Wildcat had modified 6002 without authorization, removing the disease from the genome. She's detained and questioned by Muller, and, even though she tries to lie that she didn't do anything, they have footage of her ascending the tree on her own. Muller tells her that she can't just take it upon herself to decide what's best, as who knows what would've happened if she had made a mistake. She proceeds to cuss him out, and he gives her a choice, telling her that if she apologizes now, he'll put in a good word for her with the O5 Council, which might spare her. She's silent for a moment, but does end up apologizing.2021 August 16, “Exploring the SCP Foundation: SCP-6002 - All Creatures Great and Small” (19:06 from the start), in The Exploring Series, archived from the original on 10 Jan 2023:
› To keep.
5
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, Alexander Pope, The Second Epistle of the Second Book of Horace, Imitated by Mr. Pope:
6
To keep to oneself; to forbear to impart or give.
Thou that day / Thy Father's dreadful thunder didst not spare1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
He that hath knowledge, spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 17:27:
7
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 God1610, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes, from the First Beginning of that Nation, page 580:
8
(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.a. 1779, Earl of Roscommon, “The Twenty-second Ode of the First Book of Horace”
Poor Jack, farewell! / I could have better spared a better manc. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iv]:
2 more examples
Not unnaturally, “Auntie” took this communication in bad part.[…]Next day she[…]tried to recover her ward by the hair of the head. Then, thwarted, the wretched creature went to the police for help; she was versed in the law, and perhaps had spared no pains to keep on good terms with the local constabulary.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XLIV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 361:
At Southall, we believe, it has been difficult to spare men from an understaffed motive power establishment to undergo non revenue-earning training on the diesel multiple-units, because crews are scarce for trip freight working.1960 April, “Talking of Trains: The present difficulties”, in Trains Illustrated, page 193: