| 释义 |
▪ I. spare, n.1|spɛə(r)|
Also 5 spar.
[f. spare v.1 and a. Cf. Norw. and obs. G. spar the act of sparing or saving.]
†1. The fact of leaving unhurt or unharmed; sparing; leniency, mercy. In the phrases without spare and to make (no, etc.) spare. Obs.
(a)a1300Cursor M. 2909 Bot þan com dome [= doom] witouten spare, To þaa þat lang was spared are. c1380Antecrist 136 in Todd Three Treat. Wyclif (1851), If þai wil noght turn til his lare, He sal þam sla wituten spare. a1425Cursor M. 3974 (Trin.), Iacob dred esau sare, For he was fel wiþouten spare. 1609Holland Amm. Marcell. 139 To wipe away all shamefull dishonour, as whetting their anger against such..perfidious enemies, without spare.
(b)1591in Bacon Genesis New Eng. Ch. (1874) 127 They have made no spare or conscience to accuse..and punish us. 1609Holland Amm. Marcell. 80 Our souldiors..rifled rich villages full of corne and cattell, making spare of none. 1620tr. Boccaccio's Decam. 4 Little lesse spare was made in the villages round about. 1633Bp. Hall Hard Texts 421 Cut them off..and make no spare of any of them.
2. a. The exercise of economy, frugality, or moderation. Chiefly in the phrase to make (no, etc.) spare.
1577Grange Golden Aphrod., etc. P j, To spende and make no spare, he must himselfe incline. 1590Spenser F.Q. iii. i. 51 Whiles fruitfull Ceres, and Lyæus fat, Pourd out their plenty, without spight or spare. 1643Trapp Comm. Gen. xlvii. 14 Bidden to eate..what he pleased, and make no spare. 1850F. S. Merryweather Glimmerings in Dark 36 The canons of the Church..injoined them to be bountiful in their charity and to use no spare in their hospitality. 1891Spectator 19 Sept. 377/2 We may be able to make shift with 19 million quarters of foreign and Colonial Wheat. It is certainly desirable to make spare, as we may do if we have an abundant potato-crop.
b. Const. of. (Common c 1600–40.)
1577J. Knewstub Confut. R j, He hath plentifully powred out, and made no spare of it, thorow out the whole yeare. 1579Twyne Phis. agst. Fortune ii. xliii. 218 b, There must be no spare of the rod. 1626Bacon New Atl. (1650) 1 By which time our Victuals failed us, though we had made good spare of them. 1648J. Goodwin Right & Might well met 8 They made no spare of their owne deare lives. 1655tr. Sorel's Com. Hist. Francion ii. 32 At our meal there was no spare of liquor. 1832tr. Tour German Prince IV. 77 There are a thousand men and two hundred horses in action, and no spare of gunpowder.
†c. at spare, with poor or little food or entertainment; poorly, frugally. Obs.—1
1585Earl of Leicester Corr. (Camden) 462 Most of the noblemen and gentlemen lodged that night at spare in Harwiche.
3. a. In various elliptical uses of the adj.: A spare or reserve sum of money; a spare room; a spare part, tool, tyre, etc., carried esp. by motorists to replace a breakage or supply a sudden emergency. Also spec. in pl., spare parts.
1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iv. xvi. 321 Reserving a spare for all events and accidentall occasions. 1868Dickens in Lett. (1880) II. 355 To provide and lay down new Brussels carpets in the front spare and the two top spares. 1906Daily Chron. 24 Apr. 3/3 He recommends..a complete spare magneto. I wonder if he has ever really carried such a ‘spare’. 1907C. W. Brown Petrol Engine i. 11 The manufacture is simplified and the number of ‘spares’ which the owner of a car is called upon to carry considerably reduced. 1908Motor Boat 5 Mar. 133/1 The best method of dealing with spares is to have a chest made to carry all the spares you require. 1914Vanity Fair Jan. 95/1 Some ingenious modifications have been devised for taking care of the ‘spare’. 1930A. P. Herbert Water Gipsies xxiii. 334 I'll put you to bed in the spare, and let nobody come near you. 1957Practical Wireless XXXIII. 701/2 A suitable piece of aluminium can probably be found in almost any spares box. 1976M. Maguire Scratchproof v. 66 Did it usually take him an hour to put on the spare? Would he mind if I looked at the punctured tyre? 1979B. Parvin Deadly Dyke v. 23 A small room with a single bed..had never been used... It would have been thought of as the spare.
b. slang. An unattached woman, esp. one available for casual sex. Freq. in phr. a bit of spare.
1969J. Boland Shakespeare Curse xxi. 169 Kelley was a man whose wife was in an advanced state of pregnancy. You think he'd turn down a bit of spare if it was offered to him? 1974P. Cave Dirtiest Picture Postcard x. 61 The men would not have to bother with the married girls anyway. There's plenty of spare about. 1978R. Busby Garvey's Code iv. 44, I..got the impression Maurice was..on the look-out for a bit of spare... Some of the girls we get in here..don't leave much to the imagination.
4. orig. U.S. In ten-pins and skittles: The knocking down of all the pins with two bowls (thus leaving one ‘to spare’), or with the first bowl (= double spare); the score for doing this.
1843Knickerbocker XXII. 327 His bowling at ninepins was the very perfection of carelessness. He was never guilty of a ‘spare’. 1879Daily News 2 Sept. 3/1 Younger people..sought out the American ten-pin alleys,..and, in striving for ‘spares’ and ‘double-spares’, esteemed themselves far in advance of their wise elders. 1884Harper's Mag. Jan. 299/2 Strikes and spares were less common. 1976Bridgwater Mercury 21 Dec., Keith Pollard, whose top-of-the-board 84 included four spares, led Alleycats to a runaway home win..in a first division Puriton and District Skittles League Game.
▪ II. † spare, n.2 Obs.
Forms: 4 spaier, 5 spayere, speyer, speyr(e, 5–6 spayre, 6 sparre, 5–6 (8–9) spare.
[Of obscure origin.]
An opening or slit in a gown, robe, etc., in later use in a woman's gown (see quot. 1597).
Jamieson (1808) has also ‘the slit or opening, formerly used in the fore-part of breeches’.
a1300Cursor M. 5825 He put it [his hand] eft in his spaier, And vte he drogh it, hale and fere. a1400Morte Arth. 2060 A-bowne the spayre a spanne, emange the schortte rybbys. c1430Pilgr. Lyf Manhode ii. ix. (1869) 78 And than Resoun putte hire hond in to hire bosom bi a spayere. c1440Jacob's Well 115 His clothyng was lynen, & full of spayerys, & in euery spayere hyng a crewett. a1529Skelton P. Sparowe 345 My byrde..That was wont to..go in at my spayre, And crepe in at my gore Of my gowne before. 1530Palsgr. 273/2 Sparre of a gowne, fente de la robe. 1597Skene De Verb. Sign. s.v. Bastardus, That part of weemens claiths, sik as of their gown, or petticot, quhilk vnder the belt, and before, is open, commonlie is called, the spare. a1700Jew's Daughter in Motherwell Minstrelsy (1827) 52 She took out a little pen⁓knife, Hung low down by her spare. [Also in other ballads.]
▪ III. spare, n.3
Anglicized form of sparus.
1803Shaw Gen. Zool. IV. ii. 407 Rose-red Spare, with silvery abdomen. Ibid. 419 Silvery Spare [etc.].
▪ IV. spare, n.4 Coal-mining.
(See quot.)
1849Greenwell Coal-trade Terms, Northumb. & Durh. 49 Spare.—A piece of wood, 6 or 8 inches long, 6 inches broad, cut from 1 inch Scotch deal, with one of the flat sides tapered off to the end;..the baff-end is put in first,..and the spare driven between the baff-end and the crib, in the manner of a wedge.
▪ V. † spare
obs. variant of spar n.1
Examples of the pl. spares, sparis in the 15–16th cent. probably belong to spar.
1688Holme Armoury iii. 100/1 Raile,..is a piece of Timber, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 foot or more long,..and an inch or more thick... Spare, is two inches thick, and four inches broad; in some places it is termed a single Quarter.
▪ VI. spare, a. and adv.|spɛə(r)|
Also 5 spar.
[Connected with spare v.1 Cf. ON. sparr (to be) spared; OE. spær, OHG. spar, MDu. spaer, MSw. and Norw. spar sparing; also Du. spaar-, G. and Sw. spar-, Da. spare-, Icel. spari- in combs.]
I.
1. Not in actual or regular use at the time spoken of, but carried, held, or kept in reserve for future use or to supply an emergency; esp. Naut. (see quot. 1769); additional, extra. a. In attributive use. Also spare room, a room not regularly used, esp. a bedroom reserved for visitors. spare tyre, (a) an extra tyre carried in a motor vehicle for emergencies; similarly, spare wheel; (b) transf., a roll of fat around the stomach (colloq.).
The various types of context are illustrated by the different groups of quotations.
(a)13..E.E. Allit. P. C. 104 Cables þay fasten,..weȝen her ankres, Sprude spak to þe sprete þe spare bawe-lyne. c1450Bk. Curtasye 792 in Babees Bk., The keruer anon..Into þe couertoure wyn he powres owt, Or in-to a spare pece, with-outen doute. 1497Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 110 Spare extrees for faucons,..v. 1573Richmond Wills (Surtees) 242, v. ireon teames,..ij spare crooks. 1590Shakes. Com. Err. i. i. 80 A small spare Mast, Such as sea-faring men prouide for stormes. 1602Marston Ant. & Mel. ii. Wks. 1856 I. 23 If you have any spare paire of silver spurs. 1691T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. 43 A spare Set thereof [i.e. rudder-irons] sent to Sea with every Lead-sheathed Ship. 1709Lond. Gaz. No. 4521/2 One of the Flukes of the Spare-Anchor [was]..shot off. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1780), Spare, an epithet applied to any part of a ship's..furniture, that lies in reserve, to supply the place of such as may be lost, or rendered incapable of service. Hence we say, spare top-masts, spare sails, spare rigging, &c. 1811Regul. & Orders Army 276 All Spare Ammunition is given in to the nearest Ordnance Depôt. 1856Kane Arct. Expl. II. xvi. 173 We carried spare tins, in case the others should burn out. 1893Kipling Many Invent. 2 We've just sent our regular engine to London, and this spare one's not..so accurate. 1917― Diversity of Creatures 162 The policeman laid his hand on the rim of the right driving-door (Woodhouse carries his spare tyres aft). 1920‘O. Douglas’ Penny Plain xxiii. 267 It was a tyre gone... Stark put on the spare wheel and they started again. 1961Harper's Bazaar Dec. 43/1 The deep diaphragm section slims you... That ‘spare-tyre’ has vanished! 1971D. Devine Dead Trouble v. 48 My spare tyre keeps me warm. You're too skinny. 1972Country Life 7 Dec. 1592/3 The luggage boot is..fairly well filled by the spare wheel. 1977Lancashire Life Nov. 153/1 There is no need for a spare tyre to clutter up the Mini's limited boot space.
(b)a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 29 The master of hys horse folowed him with a spare horse. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 420 They bring with them three moneths victuall,..and a spare Horse for food, besides a better for seruice. 1708J. C. Compl. Collier (1845) 33 The Charge of maintaining a spare Shift of Horses. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. xviii. II. 90 The custom of their warriors, to lead in their hand one or two spare horses, enabled them to advance and to retreat with a rapid diligence. 1822–56De Quincey Confess. (1862) 76 Here's a spare dromedary. 1850R. G. Cumming Hunter's Life S. Afr. I. 105 A horseman..accompanied by an after-rider leading a spare horse.
(c)a1687Petty Pol. Arith. (1690) 107 There are spare Hands among the King's Subjects, to earn two Millions more than they do. 1897Daily News 27 May 8/5 Driver R. Wilcockson, a spare driver,..gave evidence in regard to the irregular hours of the ‘spare’ men.
(d)1702Guide for Constables 12 He shall keep one or more spare beds for lodging of strangers. 1811Scott Let. in Lockhart (1837) II. xi. 361 My present intention is to have only two spare bed-rooms. 1814Jane Austen Mansf. Park I. iii. 54 The absolute necessity of a spare-room for a friend was now never forgotten. 1827Scott Surg. Dau. i, A spare apartment, in which Doctor Gray occasionally accommodated..patients. 1837Southern Lit. Messenger III. 333 One of the third-story rooms we must keep for a spare room. 1855Knickerbocker XLVI. 380 They have stolen away into the spare-room, otherwise, parlor. 1881Young Every Man his own Mechanic §806. 371 A spare bed which may be put up anywhere in a few minutes. 1904A. Dale Wanted: a Cook 332 The wine-cellar was under the bed in the spare-room. 1928Galsworthy Swan Song iii. ix. 280 He spied a spare-room window open at the top. 1953E. Simon Past Masters iii. 169 The spare room, newly done up, was frequently inhabited by..distinguished visitors. 1977J. Porter Who the Heck is Sylvia? ix. 79 Her habit of knocking on the spare-room door before entering.
b. In predicative use. Now rare.
1497Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 87, ij pair wheles & a pair of hynder wheles spare. 1600J. Dymmok Ireland (1843) 7 His horse of service is alwaies led spare. 1621Lady M. Wroth Urania 460 They only riding in one Coach, two other went spare. a1642Sir W. Monson Naval Tracts iii. (1704) 324/1 Anchors lying spare at the River side. 1899Westm. Gaz. 7 Dec. 5/2 Their ponies were running about spare all over the place.
†c. Of land, ground, etc.: Uncultivated, unoccupied, vacant. Obs. (exc. in sense 1 a or 2).
c1470Gol. & Gaw. 112 Sped hym on spedely on the spare mure. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 24 The ground that is yeerely sowen, and that hath lyne spare, is to be plowed thryse. 1665Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 221 The number of Gardens, Cemeteries [etc.],..take up much more spare place than London doth. 1669Worlidge Syst. Agric. 93 You may raise these Pollards in Hedge⁓rows, and spare places.
†d. Of a leaf: Blank. Obs.—1
1705Hearne Collect. 13 July (O.H.S.) I. 5 A spare leafe, before a 4to Book of tracts.
e. colloq. Of persons: off-duty, idle (cf. sense 1 a (c)). Also, useless, superfluous.
1919Athenæum 1 Aug. 695/2 ‘To be spare’ is to be temporarily off duty. 1925Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words & Phrases 266 Spare, to look, to be idle: not engaged on any particular job. 1936J. Curtis Gilt Kid xv. 154 We can't stand around here spare... Come on. 1970‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Cookie Bird viii. 117 Janey stayed there with her manicured hand on his brow..and I felt a bit spare.
f. Phr. to go spare: (a) to be unemployed; (b) to become infuriated or distraught. colloq.
c1942R. Dimbleby Let. in J. Dimbleby Richard Dimbleby (1975) vii. 163 I'd be grateful if your team would remember an at least practised broadcaster who appears to be ‘going spare’! 1958F. Norman Bang to Rights 169 When he saw what I had done he went spare. 1969J. N. Smith Is he Dead, Miss ffinch? xv. 95 The train had just gone. His lordship nearly went spare. 1975T. Heald Deadline iv. 68 What's the time? Monica will be going spare.
2. a. That can be spared, dispensed with, or given away, as being in excess of actual requirements; superfluous. † Rarely as predicate.
a1553Udall Royster D. (Arb.) 28 She shall haue the first day a whole pecke of argent... A pecke? Nomine patris, haue ye so much spare? 1613Beaum. & Fl. Captain i. iii, When I..have enough spare gold To boil away, you shall be welcome to me. 1783Burke Rep. Aff. India Wks. 1842 II. 49 The supply destined for the London market is proportioned to the spare tonnage. 1816Tuckey Narr. Exped. R. Zaire iv. (1818) 141 The very little spare provisions the natives seem to have at this season. 1849Sir F. B. Head Stokers & Pokers v. (1851) 53 A few of the..men who had spare cash purchased the greater portion of these articles. 1856Kane Arct. Expl. I. xiii. 149 All the spare morsels, the cast-off delicacies of the mess.
b. Of time: Not employed or taken up by one's ordinary or usual duties or occupations; leisure.
a1610Healey Epictetus (1636) 69 If thou hast any spare time, go. c1643Ld. Herbert Autobiog. (1824) 240 All the spare hours which I could get from my visits and negotiations. 1711Addison Spect. (J.), The female world..have more spare time upon their hands, and lead a more sedentary life. 1885G. Allen Babylon xvi, Minna was working hard in all her spare hours. 1885‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay iv, The earliest spare moment he could find was devoted to Lady Gethin.
transf.1633G. Herbert Temple, Sunday iv, The other dayes fill up the spare And hollow room with vanities.
II.
†3. Of speech: Sparing; marked by reticence or reserve. Obs. rare.
13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 901 Þenne was spyed & spured vpon spare wyse, Bi preue poyntez of þat prynce [etc.]. c1460Towneley Myst. xx. 294 This spekyng must be spar, and neuen it neuer..; let no man wyt where that we war.
4. a. Of persons, their limbs, etc.: Having little flesh; not fat or plump; lean, thin.
a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VII, 60 b, He was a man of body but leane and spare. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 287 O, giue me the spare men, and spare me the great ones. 1614Rowlands Fooles Bolt (Hunterian Cl.) 34 Thou worthy leane spare Gentleman. 1667Milton P.L. x. 511 His Visage drawn he felt to sharp and spare. 1709Tatler No. 93 ⁋4 As I am spare, I am also very tall. 1716Swift Progr. Poetry Wks. 1755 III. ii. 162 Hard exercise and harder fare Soon make my dame grow lank and spare. 1808Scott Marm. ii. iv, Her cheek was pale, her form was spare. 1844W. Irving Goldsmith xiv. (1850) 172 He was upwards of six feet high, and very spare. 1885Spectator 25 July 971/1 A man of spare figure, with a shrewd, humorous face.
transf.1848Dickens Dombey lvii, Mrs. Miff assents with a spare nod of her mortified bonnet. 1865― Mut. Fr. i. xv, The staircase, balustrades, and rails, had a spare look.
b. Const. in or of (flesh).
1632Sherwood, Spare (of flesh), desnué de chair. 1842Tennyson Talking Oak 92, I hold them [fairies] exquisitely knit, But far too spare of flesh. 1871G. H. Napheys Prev. & Cure Dis. i. i. 45 Spare in flesh.
c. Lacking body or substance; flimsy, thin.
1602Warner Alb. Eng. xiii. lxxix. (1612) 325 But all effects, and names to God his Essence come more short Than Sun-shine to the Suns-selfe, than to action spare report. 1858Lowell Vis. Sir Launfal ii. iii, Sir Launfal's raiment thin and spare Was idle mail 'gainst barbed air.
d. poet. Growing thinly or sparsely.
1815Shelley Alastor 527 Grey rocks did peep from the spare moss.
e. Of style: unadorned, bare, simple.
1965Listener 7 Oct. 552/2 The narrative..was spare, precise, almost a little cold, and made its tale of muddle and butchery thereby the more devastating. 1966Ibid. 12 May 702/2 We feel the participants to be in agony and it is impossible to remain indifferent to them. This achievement has something to do with the spare, angular dialogue. 1977Times 23 May 25/1 Tom Courtenay gives a frighteningly spare performance in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.
†5.
a. Of persons: Sparing, temperate, or moderate of or in something, esp. diet or speech. Obs.
(a)1563Foxe A. & M. 1050/1 He [Hooper] was..spare of dyet, sparer of wordes, and sparest of tyme. 1615R. Brathwait Strappado (1878) 183 Another may we see, though spare of speech, And temporate in discourse, yet he may teach By his effectual words the rasher sort. 1658–9in Burton's Diary (1828) III. 341, I am very spare of speaking. 1697Dryden Virgil, Life (1721) I. 61 He was..spare of Dyet, and hardly drank any Wine.
(b)1581G. Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. ii. (1586) 71 b, We must be spare in speaking of things which are not easily beleeued. 1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. (Arb.) 298 A man to be in giuing free, in asking spare. 1599Shakes. Hen. V, ii. ii. 131 Are they spare in diet, Free from grosse passion.
†b. Not lavish, liberal, or profuse, esp. in expenditure or living; frugal, niggardly, parsimonious; abstemious. Obs.
1577Hanmer Anc. Eccles. Hist. vii. xxxi. (1619) 143 Pierius was proved a spare man of life, and singular in Philosophy. 1583Stubbes Anat. Abus. I ij b, But as some be ouer largeous, so other some are spare enough. 1633P. Fletcher Poet. Misc. 58 Oh happy pair, where nothing wants to either,..Fortune and nature being spare to neither!
c. dial. Displaying little exertion or energy; slow, dilatory.
1746–in south-western dial. glossaries, etc.
6. a. Characterized by meanness, bareness, economy, or frugality, esp. in regard to food.
1560Abp. Parker Corr. (Parker Soc.) 133 The unclean or negligent order and spare-keeping of the house of prayer. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. ii. 20 As it is a spare life.., it fits my humor well: but as there is no more plentie in it, it goes much against my stomacke. 1634Milton Comus 767 She..Means her provision onely to the good, That live according to her sober laws, And holy dictate of spare Temperance. 1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. xxiv, To order the whole establishment on the sparest footing possible.
b. Of diet, fare, meals, etc.: Consisting of a comparatively small amount of food, esp. of a plain kind; not abundant or plentiful.
1570Jewel View of Seditious Bull (1582) 29 So that the quantitie be smal, and fit for sober and spare diet. 1607Rowlands Earl of Warwick (Hunterian Cl.) 66 His diet of the meanest, hard and spare. c1665Mrs. Hutchinson Mem. Col. Hutchinson (1846) 24 He was not talkative, yet free of discourse; of a very spare diet. a1721Prior Wand. Pilgr. 13 Spare diet, and spring-water clear, Physicians hold are good. 1784Cowper Task iv. 173 When her patriots..Enjoy'd—spare feast!—a radish and an egg! 1841Barham Ingol. Leg. Ser. ii. Nell Cook, The Priory fare was scant and spare. 1842Combe Digestion 203 He was unable for study till five or six hours after even a very spare dinner.
transf.1893Stevenson Catriona xxv. (1902) 306, I drink nothing else but spare, cold water.
c. poet. Scanty, meagre, rare.
1813Shelley Q. Mab v. 202 Some servile souls, Whom cowardice itself might safely chain, Or the spare mite of avarice could bribe. 1842Tennyson St. Sim. Styl. 77 Eating not, Except the spare chance-gift of those that came To touch my body. 1888Cent. Mag. May 26 Even now the reaper-beams appear, And gather in the clouds' spare after⁓math.
7. As adv. Sparely; with spare diet. rare.
1813Scott Trierm. iii. iv, Yet still his watch the warrior keeps, Feeds hard and spare, and seldom sleeps.
III. 8. Comb., chiefly parasynthetic, as spare-bodied, spare-built, spare-fed adjs.; † spare-handed a., having a sparing hand; spare-time a., that is done in one's spare time; operating in or occupying spare time.
1626J. Yates Ibis ad Cæsarem i. 1 God is ample in Pre⁓destination unto life, but in the death of sinners spare-handed. 1742Jarvis Don Quix. i, He was of a robust constitution, spare-bodied, of a meagre visage. 1813Scott Rokeby ii. xxii, His stately form, spare-built and tall. 1837Lockhart Scott IV. v. 157 For ‘early to rise’, unless in the case of spare-fed anchorites, takes for granted ‘early to bed’. 1895Scully Kafir Stories 133 Whitson was a sallow-faced, spare-built man of short stature. 1931Spare-time [see part-time a.]. 1936‘M. Innes’ Death at President's Lodging ii. 39 The spare-bodied man that he was. 1955Blunden Addresses on General Subjects 24 This poet [sc. Shelley] almost achieved, as one of his spare-time labours, the establishment of the first steamship service in the Mediterranean. 1973A. Holden Girl on Beach 143 He really is a professional lawyer after all, and merely a spare-time amateur art critic. 1978Nagel's Encycl.-Guide: China 320 The ‘Spare Time Industrial University’ at Shanghai.
▪ VII. spare, v.1|spɛə(r)|
Forms: 1 sparian, spear-, spærian, 3 sparien, spearien, 3–4 sparie (4 -ye), 3–5 spary; 4–5 sparen, 4– spare, 5–8 Sc. spair (6 spaare, spaer, 7 spayer, 9 dial. spaar).
[Common Teutonic: OE. sparian (also a-, ᵹesparian), = OFris. sparia (WFris. sparje, † spearje, NFris. spari, spāri), OS. and OHG. sparôn (MLG. and LG., MDu. and Du., MHG. and G. sparen), ON. spara (Icel., Norw., Sw. spara, Da. spare), f. a stem spar- (see spare a.) of uncertain relationship. The Teutonic word is the base of OF. espargner (mod.F. épargner), It. sparagnare and sparmiare.]
I.
1. a. trans. To leave (a person) unhurt, unharmed, or uninjured; to refrain from inflicting injury or punishment upon; to allow to escape, go free, or live. Usually with personal subject.
c825Vesp. Psalter lxxi. 13 God..spearað dearfan & weðlan. c897K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xlvi. 352 Hie ne sparodon ða synnfullan, ac sloᵹon. c1100in Cockayne Shrine 17 Ne spareð nu se fæder þan sune ne nan mann oðren; Ac ælc man winð onᵹean oðren. a1122O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1086, He sætte.. þæᵹnas on cweartern, & æt nextan he ne sparode his aᵹenne broðor. c1175Lamb. Hom. 121 Þa he na sparede na ihesu crist his aȝene sune. c1205Lay. 27487 Nuste nan kempe whæm he sculde slæn on, and wham he sculde sparien. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 8830 Sparie he wolde Mildemen & harde chasty þe proute. 1375Barbour Bruce ix. 297 He..gert his men burn all Bouchane..and sparit nane. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xxxi. 142 Þare es nane spared þat es taken with a trespas. 1474Caxton Chesse ii. iv. (1883) 53 To spare them & gyue hem her lyf. 1589? Lyly Pappe w. Hatchet (1844) 19, I am like death, Ile spare none. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. iii. 153 Take thou the bill, giue me thy meat-yard, and spare not me. a1628Preston New Covt. (1634) 364 If men could have entered into Covenant and kept the Law, Christ had beene spared. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 758 Whom ev'n the savage Beasts had spar'd, they kill'd. 1780Cowper Fable 34 An earthquake may be bid to spare The man that's strangled by a hair. 1825Scott Talism. iii, Saladin had issued particular orders that he should be spared and protected. 1891Farrar Darkn. & Dawn xlii, They..demanded that there should be a trial, and that the innocent should be spared.
refl.1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1609 Vor woch dede a man ssolde..Lese is on eye, & he him sulf ne sparde him sulue noȝt, Ac let pulte out is owe eye. a1300Cursor M. 26718 Þis man will we spare, For noght he spard him-self are.
b. With impersonal object (but implying or suggesting a person or persons). (Cf. 4.)
c825Vesp. Psalter lxxvii. 50 [He] ne spearede from deaðe sawlum heara. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. vii. 11 Spynneth it spedily, spareþ noght ȝour fyngres. 1605Shakes. Lear ii. ii. 72 Spare my gray-beard, you wagtaile? 1725Pope Odyss. xv. 303 Receive the suppliant! spare my destin'd blood. 1757Gray Bard 107 Visions of glory, spare my aching sight. 1817Shelley Rev. Islam x. xxiv. 1 Famine had spared the palace of the king.
(b) spare me (or my) days! an exclamatory ejaculation (Austral. and N.Z. colloq.).
1916C. J. Dennis Songs of Sentimental Bloke 16 The music of the sorft an' barmy breeze... Aw, spare me days! c1926‘Mixer’ Transport Workers' Song Bk. 13 Yet you'll find when work is busy, Spare me days, we're slipping back. 1967Coast to Coast 1965–6 134 Spare me days, you go and toil your guts out [etc.]. 1970K. Giles Death in Church iv. 101 He..gave me one and, spare me days, I almost certainly have it.
c. To allow to be free or exempt from (or † of) some task, etc. Also refl. without const.
1375Barbour Bruce v. 362 He him sparit na kyn thing, Bot prufit swa his fors..That throu his vorschip [etc.]. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. cix. (Bodl. MS.), The more scheo [i.e. a cow] is forbore and spared fro [1495 of] trauaile, þe more slowe [s]he is. 1596Bacon Max. & Use Com. Law ii. (1635) 7 By which the Earles were spared of their toyles and labours, and that was laid upon the Sheriffes. 1794Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxxv, [The] house⁓keeper, now spared from further attendance by the entrance of the count.
d. To refrain from denouncing or exposing in strong terms; to deal gently or leniently with.
1535Coverdale Job xxxii. 21, I wil open my lyppes, and make answere. I will regarde no maner of personne, no man wil I spare. 1607Shakes. Cor. ii. iii. 243 Sici[nus]. Lay the fault on vs. Brut[us]. I, spare vs not. 1649Milton Eikon. B 2, As he hath not spar'd his Adversaries, so to him will be us'd no more Courtship then he uses. 1728T. Sheridan tr. Persius (1739) Ded. p. iv, I never did once either distinguish or spare you. 1771Junius Lett. liv. (1788) 295 What public question have I declined? What villain have I spared? 1821Scott Kenilw. xli, As Varney..had been studious to spare the character of his patron. 1852Thackeray Esmond i. iv, My lady used not to spare Colonel Esmond in talking of him. 1891Farrar Darkn. & Dawn lxii. 295 He shrank from eliciting a keenness of wit which had not spared the bloodstained Sylla.
e. To refrain from afflicting or distressing.
1794Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxxviii, Emily..was followed by the Lady Blanche,..whom she entreated to spare her on the subject of her distress. 1819Shelley Cenci v. ii. 108 Oh, spare me! Speak to me no more!.. Those solemn tones Wound worse than torture. 1856E. Capern Poems (ed. 2) 143 Spare, oh, spare thy tender feelings.
2. absol. To exercise or show mercy, forbearance, or leniency.
a1225Juliana (Royal MS.) 70 A stalewurðe men ne sparie ȝe nawiht; ha haueð us alle scheome idon. a1300Cursor M. 3974 Esau ai he dred ful sare, For he was fel and wald noght spare. 1382Wyclif Job xxvii. 22 He shal senden out vp on hym, and not sparen. c1420Prymer 78 God, to whom it is proprid to haue merci & to spare euer more. 1422tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 181 He that is a gouernoure in tymes he shall Spare, and in tymes vengeaunse take. 1535Coverdale Job vi. 10, I wolde desyre him in my payne, that he shulde not spare. 1611Bible Prov. vi. 34 He will not spare in the day of vengeance. 1736Gentl. Mag. VI. 678 Spare, charmer spare! in prudence do! 1761Gray Fatal Sisters 34 Ours to kill, and ours to spare. 1825Scott Talism. xxii, The lion Richard will spare when he has conquered. 1871Grosart H. Vaughan's Wks. I. Ded. p. iv, Available and destined for the same august post (God sparing).
†b. Const. to. (After L. parcere.) Obs.
c1340Hampole Psalter xviii. 13 Of myn hid [trespasses] make me clene, and of oþer spare til þi seruaunte. 1382Wyclif Wisd. xii. 16 To alle thou makest thee to sparen. c1420Prymer 47 Spare, lord, spare to þe puple.
3. trans.
†a. To refrain from violating, infringing, or breaking. Obs.
1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 806 Of al þe festys þat yn holy chyrche are Holy sunday men oght to spare. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VIII. 129 No privelege of persoun wheþer of holy cherche noþer fredom was i-spared.
b. To abstain from visiting (a sin, etc.) with due punishment; to forgive or pardon.
1388Wyclif Job xiv. 16 Sotheli thou hast noumbrid my steppis; but spare thou my synnes. a1450tr. De Imitatione iii. lv. 132, I þonke þe þat þou hast not spared myn eueles. 1500–20Dunbar Poems lxx. 27 Thow, that on rude ws ransomit,..Spair our trespas. 1782Cowper Mut. Forbearance 44 If infirmities..Are crimes so little to be spar'd.
c. To preserve or save (life) in place of destroying; to allow to continue or last.
1594Kyd Cornelia v. 445 To spare Thy worthles life that yet must one day perish. 1605Shakes. Lear ii. ii. 66 This ancient Ruffian Sir, whose life I haue spar'd at sute of his gray-beard. 1781Cowper Expost. 623 Those holy men..could not..spare a life too short to reach the skies. 1823Scott Quentin D. xix, With what face darest thou ask any guerdon beyond my sparing thy worthless life? 1865Trollope Belton Est. i. 8 He hoped that the squire's life would be long spared. 1890Science-Gossip XXVI. 167 Poor pussy began to purr, and that decided the verdict in favour of her life being spared.
4. a. To abstain from destroying, removing, damaging, or injuring (a thing).
c897K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xviii. 140 Swæ sindon ða loccas to sparianne ðæm sacerde ðæt hie ða hyd behel⁓iᵹen. c900tr. Baeda's Hist. iv. xxvii, Cyricum ne myn⁓strum seo herehand sparode ne ne arode. 1338R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 248 Holy who salle spare,..Whan þo þat hedes are do þer to no gode. 1382Wyclif Rom. xi. 21 Forsothe if God sparide not the kyndely braunchis, lest perauenture he spare not thee. c1400Brut li. 45 [They] destroyede al þing þat þai fonde; and no þing þai ne sparede. 1480Cov. Leet Bk. 446 In their shotyng called rovyng,..[they] nother sparen corn ne grasse, but distroyen & defowlen hem. a1586Sidney Arcadia (1622) 368 Shee..was now about to put out his eyes, which all this while were spared. 1643Denham Cooper's H. 155 What does he think our Sacriledge would spare, When such th' effects of our Devotion are? 1648Milton Sonn. viii. 10 The great Emathian Conqueror bid spare The house of Pindarus. 1759Johnson Rasselas xxix, From the wonders which time has spared we may conjecture..what it has destroyed. 1794Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xlv, The beauty..of its delicate carvings, determined the count to spare this door. 1839Thirlwall Greece VI. 165 It was believed that Alexander..was induced to spare it by the hope that it would soon surrender. 1879S. C. Bartlett Egypt to Pal. x. 225 Usually a large part of their branches had been cut off, even when the tree itself had been spared.
b. To save or protect (a thing) from damage, wear, or undue strain in some way.
1817Lady Morgan France i. (1818) I. 63, I remember our having alighted from our carriage to spare its springs in a sort of ‘crack-scull-common’ road.
II.
5. a. To refrain from using or consuming; to use in a frugal or economical manner. Now rare.
c1000ælfric Hom. (Thorpe) II. 70 He sparode þæt gode win oð his aᵹenum to-cyme. a1300Cursor M. 7927 For to spar his aun aght Þis pouer mans scep he laght. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vi. xiv. (Bodl. MS.), [A father] spareþ his owne mete to fede his chyld with. c1440Jacob's Well 143 Þou myȝt so spare þi purse, þat þou myȝt forfare þi-self. 1477Earl Rivers (Caxton) Dictes 14 It satisfieth not to spare metes and do euill dedis. c1550N. Smyth tr. Herodian ii. 19 He..also teacheth others to be frugall, and spare that them selues gette. 1589Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 34 She sparde no euening milke, but went amongst the cream bowles, and made him a posset. 1635–56Cowley Davideis i. 869 Free Natures bounty thriftily they spent, And spared the Stock. 1651Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxx. 181 He which laboureth much, and sparing the fruits of his labour, consumeth little [etc.]. 1726Swift Gulliver iii. i, Being resolved to spare my provisions as much as I could. 1743Francis tr. Hor., Odes ii. vii. 26 Thy Limbs from Toils of Warfare free, Nor spare the Casks reserv'd for Thee.
†b. To save, hoard, or store up. Obs.
c1400Gamelyn 320 My brother is a niggoun.., And we wil spende largely that he hath spared yore. 1483Caxton Cato F iij b, For men hath dyspended..in lytel tyme that whiche men hath acquyred and spared wyth grete labour. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xxxvi. 25 Sum grit gud gadderis and ay it spairis. 1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. May 84 The sonne of his loines why should he regard To leaue enriched with that he hath spard? 1648Gage West Ind. 160 What monies they have spared, after their own and their servants lawful maintenance. 1683D. A. Art Converse 116 They can inform you of Twenty Arts how to gain and spare a Peny.
c. absol. To use or practise economy or frugality; to be parsimonious or niggardly; to live or act sparingly.
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xii. 53 And riche renkes riȝt so gaderen and sparen. c1420Sir Amadace (Camden) ii, I myȝte lung spare, Or alle these godus qwitte ware, And haue noȝte to spend. c1475Rauf Coilȝear 202 Thairfoir sic [good fare] as thow seis, spend on, and not spair. a1513Fabyan Chron. vi. (1811) 234 He..gaue parte vnto suche knyghtes as he fauoured, and spared to theym that hadde wele deserued. 1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 204 For lordlie bent Must learne to spare. 1621T. Williamson tr. Goulart's Wise Vieillard 73 It is a pleasing.. excuse among men..to alledge that they spare for their children. 1667Milton P.L. v. 320 Where Nature..by disburd'ning grows More fruitful, which instructs us not to spare. 1737Pope tr. Hor., Epist. ii. ii. 290, I, who at some times spend, at others spare. 1792Burns Country Lassie iv, But some will spend, and some will spare. 1866Howells Venetian Life 325 Those people who attempt to maintain a certain appearance upon insufficient means,..and who spare in every possible way. 1889― Hazard New Fortunes 94 They must spare in carriage hire at any rate.
prov.1562J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 54 Euer spare and euer bare. 1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 23 Some spareth too late,..the foole at the bottom, the wise at the brim. 1677Miége Fr. Dict. ii. s.v., To spare at the spiggot, and let it run out at the bung-hole. 1681W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. s.v., Better spare at the brim, than at the bottom, sera est in fundo parsimonia [Seneca Ep. i. 5]. 1736Ainsworth i. s.v., It is too late to spare, when all is spent.
d. In passive: To be left over or unused.
1577Googe Heresbach's Husb. §149 You must feede them often by hand, when meate fayles abroade,..and not so much as Barly spared. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §237 The mason took the mortar out of the bucket; and if any was spared, he still kept on beating. 1799[A. Young] Agric. Linc. 25 All that may be spared at night, should be thrown to the common mortar heap, and fresh stucco made in the morning. 1868Atkinson Cleveland Gloss. 481 Eat what thee likes, an' what's spared tak' awa' yamm fur t' bairns.
6. To abstain or refrain from using, employing, exercising, etc.; to forbear, omit, or avoid the use or occasion of; also, to use, or deal in, with moderation, economy, or restraint:
a. In various special contexts.
(a)c1000ælfric Hom. II. 324 Se ðe sparað his ᵹyrde, he hatað his cild. a1250Prov. ælfred 451 in O.E. Misc., Þe mon þe spareþ yeorde.., þat him schal on ealde sore reowe. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. vi. 139 Ho so spareþ þe spring spilleþ hus children. c1430Stans Puer ad Mensam 91 (Lamb. MS.), Who þat spariþ þe rodde [v.r. the yerd] al uertues settiþ a-side. 1526Skelton Magnyf. 1955 There is nothynge that more dyspleaseth God Than from theyr chyldren to spare the rod Of correccyon. 1535Coverdale Prov. xiii. 24 He that spareth the rodde, hateth his sonne. 1664Butler Hud. ii. i. 844 Love is a Boy, by Poets styl'd, Then Spare the Rod, and spill the Child. 1841Lytton Nt. & Morn. ii. iii, Spare the rod and spoil the child. 1855Thackeray Newcomes iii, I have a brother to whom my poor mother spared the rod, and who..has turned out but a spoilt child.
(b)a1225Leg. Kath. 807 Lure ow is to leosen ower swinkes lan, þe leoteð se lutel of, & sparieð ower speche. a1300Cursor M. 16110 Sai me iesus, qui dos þou þus? to me na soth þou spare. c1386Chaucer Sompn. T. 55 Tel forth thy tale, and spare it not at al. c1400Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton, 1483) iv. xxx. 78 Flaterers and forgeours that sparen the soothe ben nothynge profitable. 1481Caxton Reynard xxxiv. (Arb.) 100 Yf ye wyl spare the trouth and lye grete lesynges. 1508Dunbar Tua mariit wemen 40 Syne thai spak more spedelie, and sparit no materis. 1617Moryson Itin. ii. 72 He might doe well to spare the rest of his speech. 1663S. Patrick Parab. Pilgr. xii. (1687) 79 Your blushes bid me spare this language. 1731Swift Death Dr. Swift Wks. 1841 I. 657/2 Had he but spared his tongue and pen, He might have rose like other men. 1753Richardson Grandison V. iv. 27, I am put upon a task that grieves me, Ease my heart, by sparing my speech. 1820Scott Monast. xxxvii, ‘Spare your threats,’ said Murray. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair xxix, Much painful and unavailing talk between them was spared. 1864–8Browning J. Lee's Wife ii. iii, Spare the curse!
(c)a1440Found. St. Bartholomew's (E.E.T.S.) 19 Whane thou cummyste yn to the Iewes strete, spare thy sporys, lose thy brydyll, lette thyn hors to my gouernaunce. c1470Gol. & Gaw. 305 Thayr wes na spurris to spair, spedely thai spring. 1575Gascoigne Glasse of Govt. Wks. 1910 II. 26 But yet where youth is prone to follow ill, There spare the spurre, and use the brydell still. 1735Somerville Chase iii. 85 Flourish the Whip, nor spare the galling Spur. 1782F. Burney Cecilia viii. i, Why, Sir, you have not spared the spur! 1831Scott Ct. Rob. xvi, Come along..like a good fellow, and for once I shall spare the whip.
b. In miscellaneous (partly obs.) uses.
a1300Cursor M. 5867 Dathait qua werkes on þam spar! Þan held þai þam harder þan ar. 1388Wyclif Jer. l. 14 Ouercome ȝe it [sc. Babylon], spare ȝe not arowis, for it synnede to the Lord. 1515Plumpton Corr. (Camden) 212, [I] entreated them to spare distreyning, till such tyme as I had sent unto you [etc.]. 1553Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 141 It is maist convenient and best to spair puneisment for the said cryme. 1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 97 Spare meadow at Gregorie, marshes at Pask, for feare of drie Sommer. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 59 They spare not now and then a blow with a Cudgel by the by. 1831Scott Ct. Rob. xxxiii, Count Robert spared putting forth some part of the military skill for which he was celebrated. 1884F. Temple Relat. Relig. & Sci. v. (1885) 142 We recognise that we are bound to spare pain to all creatures that can feel.
c. Const. to and infinitive.
Freq. from the 14th to the 17th century; now rare.
a1225Juliana 26 Ant..wa wurðe him wurst þat te mest sparie wondreðe to donne. 13..Sir Beues 4482 Sire Miles.. Lep vpon a dromedary, To prike wolde he nouȝt spary. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. iii. 51 Wist I that..I wolde nouȝt spare For to be ȝowre frende. c1386Chaucer Merch. T. 1065, I schal not spare for no curtesye To speke him harm, that wold us vilonye. c1440Partonope 1707 Ye spared not in-to my bedde Homely to gonne. 1479Cov. Leet Bk. 423 Not sparyng to do therin as lawe will for eny persone..what-so-euer. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 18 Some spare not to make insurrecyon and rebell agaynst theyr prelates and heddes. 1575Gascoigne Glasse of Govt. Wks. 1910 II. 16 Spare not to commaund my service. 1637Bp. Reynolds Serm. (1638) 34, I shall spare to bee so injurious to your patience, and to the businesse wee attend upon. 1686tr. Chardin's Coronat. Solyman 75 The Controller..would not spare to inform the worst he could against him. 1808Scott Marm. i. iv, And, from the platform, spare ye not To fire a noble salvo-shot. 1893Stevenson Catriona xxix. (1902) 346 Using travellers' freedom, we spared to wait for James More.
Prov.14..Lat. & Eng. Prov. (MS. Douce 52) fol. 16 b, Who so sparyth to speke sparyth to spede. 1509Hawes Past. Pleas. xvi. (Percy Soc.) 91 Who spareth to speke he to spede doth spare. 1546Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 31 Spare to speake spare to speede. 1567Turberv. Epit., etc. (1837) 308 My Spencer, spare to speake, and euer spare to speed. 1748Smollett Rod. Rand. xxxiv, Remembering the old proverb, ‘Spare to speak, spare to speed’, [he] resolved to solicit the new captain's interest immediately. 1789Burns Blue-eyed Lassie ii. 1887in Eng. Dial. Dict. s.v., He that spares to speyk, spares to speed.
d. In elliptical use: To refrain from doing something. Now rare or Obs.
c1386Chaucer Friar's T. 39 Now telleth forth,..Ne spareth nought, myn owne maister deere. c1400Destr. Troy 12736 Sho spilt hade hir spousaile, sparit ho noght. 1530Tindale Wks. (Parker Soc.) 343, I could more deeply have entered into the practice of our cardinal, but I spare for divers considerations. 1557Tusser 100 Points Husb. lxxxi, In June washe thy shepe,..and kepe them from dust... Then share them and spare not. 1610Shakes. Temp. ii. i. 24 Alon. I pre-thee spare. Gon. Well, I haue done. a1620J. Dyke Right Receiv. Christ (1640) 161 Talke and spare not.
†e. absol. To refrain from or forbear the use or exercise of something. Obs. rare.
c1470Gol. & Gaw. 274 A! lord, sparis of sic speche, quhill ye speir more. 1481Cov. Leet Bk. 489 To commaunde vs to respite & spare for a season of callyng furth oure seid retynue.
7. a. To avoid incurring or being involved in, to save (expense or labour).
(a)a1325[see (b) below]. c1400Cursor M. 29060 (Cott. Galba), If þou fast þi spens to spare, thrise for to ete better þe ware. c1420Avow. Arth. xlviii, Ther was no spense for to spare, Burdes thay were neuyr bare. 1491Act 7 Hen. VII, c. 22 Preamble, Put to your hand and spare no cost. 1548Elyot, Parcere impensæ, to spare coste. 1617Moryson Itin. i. 9 This fortification, wherein he hath spared no cost. 1621in W. H. Hale Prec. Causes of Office (1841) 50 He said they haue no nede of popish reliques and that the parishe may spare their money for such thinges. 1693in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) II. 376 It being necessary to retrench the expences, it was thought proper to spare the charge of the Organist. 1819Scott Ivanhoe xxxiv, The gold thou shalt spare in her cause. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair lvi, A famous tailor..was summoned to ornament little George's person, and was told to spare no expense in so doing.
(b)a1325MS. Rawl. B. 520 lf. 30 b, Þe king hath igraunted for te sparen trauail and despense of his men. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 2 b, They..spared no labours neyther by see ne yet by lande. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 126 They wil spare neyther paynes nor peryl. 1603Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 1154 Meaning..by this means to spare their pouder, shot, and paines, and to reserue them to their better vses. 1675J. Owen Indwelling Sin xvi. (1732) 216 To spare the trouble in the Education of their Children. 1780Mirror No. 101, These I spared no pains to cultivate and improve. 1827Faraday Chem. Manip. ix. (1842) 238 He should not spare pains to procure the best possible [filtering-paper]. 1832H. Martineau Life in Wilds vi. 80 We must spare labour to the utmost till we can get a stock of labourers. 1892Photogr. Ann. II. 601 No time, trouble, or expense has been spared in the matter.
b. To avoid, shun, keep clear of. Now rare.
c1380Sir Ferumb. 1553 Faste þay passede ouer al þe weys..; Ne sparede þay hulles, noþer valeys, bote prikede forþ with bost. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VI. 39 He hated wyn dronkenes, ribaudye, and harlottie; uppon caas for hete of þe contray he wolde have it i-spared. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 121 b/2 Haue pyte on thy self..that yu mayst..wynne to spare the tormentes that ben yet to come. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccx. 252 They spared nat the dangerous maresses, but went through them. 1590Shakes. Mids. N. ii. i. 142 Shun me and I will spare your haunts. 1821Shelley Epipsych. 183 And we know not How much..Of pleasure may be gained, of sorrow spared.
8. a. To dispense with from one's stock or supply, or from a number, quantity, etc.; to part with, to give or grant, lend, etc., to another or others, esp. without inconvenience or loss to oneself; to do without.
Also const. to (a person or persons), from or out of (a stock or store, etc.).
a1225Ancr. R. 416 Ȝif heo mei sparien eni poure schreaden, sende ham al derneliche ut of hire woanes. a1300Cursor M. 29057 Þe mete þat þou þi-self suld ete..þou sal it to þe pouer spare. a1400Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. lv. i. 67 Ȝit of þi good woldestou not spare. 1481Cov. Leet Bk. 484 To knowe..what able persones & howe many the Towne myght spare ouer þe seid iijxx men. a1548Hall Chron., Edw. IV, 31 b, The lord Beauchampe toke from her rere⁓ward, more ordinance then she might haue wel spared. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 398 b, No parte of that wheate, whiche is in the citie, can be spared. 1601in Moryson Itin. (1617) ii. 145 At this time he cannot well be spared from hence. 1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 516 He is Collector or Treasurer to the King of Ternate in those parts, and sends him what he can spare. 1651Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxiv. 129 It is necessary, that men distribute that which they can spare. 1769Johnson Lett. (1788) I. 20, I..can easily spare the pine-apple. 1769Falconer Dict. Marine (1780), Donner un grand hunier, to spare a main top-sail to some other ship in company. 1827Faraday Chem. Manip. xvii. (1842) 463 When a drop only of the fluid can be spared, a glass plate..will support it. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xii. III. 241 Kirke could spare no soldiers; but he had sent..some experienced officers. 1879Froude Cæsar xx. 337 Cæsar and Pompey must each spare a legion for the East.
b. To reserve, retain, set aside or store up for some particular use or purpose; to keep in reserve.
a1300Cursor M. 5394 Þai had noþer worth ne ware þat þai moght for þair mete spare. [Trin. MS. Þei hadde no þing ȝare þat þei myȝte to her lyuelode spare.] c1400Destr. Troy 6502 The tother speire þat he sparit, [he] spent vpon hym. 1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 90 Land meadow that yeerly is spared for hay, now fence it and spare it. 1610J. Guillim Heraldry i. iii. (1660) 19 It is taken up and spared for necessary purposes. 1795Gentl. Mag. 542/2, I request you will spare room for one tribute more to his memory. 1886C. E. Pascoe Lond. of To-day xxvii. (ed. 3) 251 The proper description of which would require more space than we can conveniently spare for the purpose.
c. To set apart, save, or give (time) from one's usual or ordinary duties or avocations; to have free, unoccupied, or unemployed.
a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VI, 82 b, This..pollitique Capitayne lost not one houre, nor spared one mynet, till he came before the citie of Burdeaux. 1565Cooper s.v. Succisiuus, Time spared from other businesse. c1643Ld. Herbert Autobiog. (1824) 71 That Exercise taking up more time than can be spared from a studious man to get Knowledge. 1741–3Wesley Extr. Jrnl. (1749) 59, I take such a proportion of time as I can spare every night, to discourse with each child apart. 1788G. Keate Pelew Isl. xxiii. 297 The portion of time which they could spare from providing for their natural wants. 1833H. Martineau Tale of Tyne vii. 126 Can you spare a minute, just to look out of this window? 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 423 Let all the citizens who can spare time hear..such causes.
d. In prec. senses as complement to the verbs have or be, or with ellipse of these.
1390Gower Conf. II. 396 Whan Somer hath lost al his grene And is with Wynter wast and bare, That him is left nothing to spare. 1530Palsgr. 726/1 Sownde, mariner, let us se what water we have to spare. 1550Crowley Last Trumpet 1198 Thou haste no tyme to spare, and spende in bankettyng. 1633G. Herbert Temple, Ch. Porch xii, For we have wit to mark them, and to spare. 1654Bramhall Just Vind. v. (1661) 102 These [bishops] were few enough for their own province, and none to spare for Britain. 1705De Foe in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 322, I know your Lordship has but few minutes to spare. 1771Franklin Autobiog. Wks. 1840 I. 94 She brought me word she had no such sum to spare. 1836Marryat Japhet xlvi, I had an hour to spare, before the coach started. 1863W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting v. 133, I won both events.., with three bullets to spare. 1878Masque Poets 13 If we had only time to spare To taste the glories of the Spring.
9. With direct and indirect object:
a. To give or grant; to supply (a person) with (something) out of a stock, quantity, etc.
1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, ii. vi. 78 Then the world go's hard When Clifford cannot spare his Friends an oath. a1616Beaum. & Fl. Wit without M. i. ii, She may spare me her misen, and her bonnets, strike her main Petticoat, and yet outsail me. c1643Ld. Herbert Autobiog. (1824) 138, I was without any meat but what my Footman spared me out of his pocket. 1711London Gaz. No. 4887/3 They out⁓running us so very much, that they spared us half their Sails. 1784Cowper Task i. 262 He spares me yet These chesnuts rang'd in corresponding lines. 1821Scott Kenilw. xvii, Your nobleness will willingly spare your old servitor his crib and his mess. 1847Tennyson Princ. vi. 242 And now A word, but one,..Not one to spare her; out upon you, flint!
†b. To allow (one) to utter (a word). Also ellipt. Obs.
1660Trial Regic. 24 Spare me but one Word. 1710Palmer Proverbs 189 Out comes two or three ‘If you'll give me leave's’, as many ‘Spare me's’, ‘with submission's’, and ‘I humbly conceive's’.
c. To save or relieve (a person, one's feelings, etc.) from (something).
1681Dryden Span. Friar v. i, Spare my sight the pain Of seeing what a world of Tears it cost you. 1794Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xxxix, Spare me the necessity of mentioning those circumstances. Ibid. xlvi, Adding that he would spare her any difficulties that might occur. 1802M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. 216, I shall spare you..the reflections I have made on this occasion. 1856Kane Arct. Expl. II. xxix. 287, I had a set of signals..which spared us the noise of the voice. 1893Sloane-Stanley Remin. Midshipm. Life vi. 82, I was, however, spared this infliction.
refl.1717Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to Pope 1 Apr., I might spare myself the trouble. 1781Cowper Charity 626, I might spare myself the pains to show What few can learn. 1841W. Spalding Italy & It. Isl. II. 102 We may spare ourselves the labour of looking for its essence. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair ii, Minerva thought wisely she could spare herself the expense of a master. 1884Manch. Exam. 11 Oct. 5/1 They wrench off cupboard doors to spare themselves the trouble of closing them.
III. intr.
10. to spare for:
a. To desist or refrain from some action because or on account of (difficulty, opposition, loss, etc.).
Freq. c 1400; usually with a negative. Now arch.
a1300Beket (Percy Soc.) 62 Heo wende alone..And ne sparede for no sorewe that miȝte come hire to. c1330King of Tars 905 Bid him com hider with his ost,..For no thyng that he ne spare. c1400Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton) v. xiv. (1859) 81 For blandyssyng, for manace, ne for drede They spared not, but stoden by the trouthe. c1430How Good Wife taught Dau. 12 in Babees Bk., Go to chirche whanne þou may, Loke þou spare for no reyn. a1585Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 370 He is bot daft that hes ado, And spairis for euery speiche. 1810Scott Lady of L. v. xxxii, Spare not for spoiling of thy steed. 1823― Quentin D. x, Throw down the screen—spare not for cup or goblet.
b. With negative: To refrain from action in order to avoid or save (expense, trouble, etc.); to be sparing of or in (something).
c1400Destr. Troy 233, I shall spare for no spence & þu spede wele. 14..Sir Beues (E.) 3310 Þey sparyd neyþer for syluyr ne golde. 1535Lyndesay Satyre 52 And sie the burgessis spair not for expence, Bot speid thame heir. 1593Marlowe Edw. II, i. iv, Spare for no cost. 1599Shakes. Much Ado iii. v. 66 And we must doe it wisely. Dogb. Wee will spare for no witte I warrant you. 1657Earl of Monmouth tr. Paruta's Pol. Disc. 55 Cæsar never spared for any labour by which he might hope to purchase renown and glory. 1681Hickeringill Sin Man-Catching Wks. 1716 I. 178 They plot their Work,..spare for no pains, no cost, not daunted with any ill success. 1723Briton No. 12 (1724) 54 Crassus..spared for no Expence to purchase Voices. 1726Leoni Alberti's Archit. II. 53 No Columns or Pilasters were spared for. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §305 They did not spare for cold water to throw in my face and upon me.
IV.
11. Combs. with the verbal stem, as spare-good, spare-penny, spare-thrift; also † spare-chest, a chest for spare money, a reserve fund.
1611Cotgr. s.v. Manger, Il est à table, & n'ose manger; (Applyable to a miserable spare-good). 1707J. Stevens tr. Quevedo's Com. Wks. (1709) 298 The Retentive Knight: containing much wholesome Advice for saving the Ready, and being free of good Words. Dedicated to the Society of Spare-Pennies. 1768Ann. Reg. i. 117 The extraordinary expences occasioned by his Sicilian majesty's marriage..will not be levied upon the state, but defrayed out of the savings of the spare-chest. 1803Ann. Rev. I. 423 The manufacturer has to deal..with the spendthrift and the sparethrift.
▪ VIII. spare, v.2 north. and † Sc.
Also 5 spayr, 6 spair.
[var. of spar v.1 Cf. spear v.2
Spareð, given as a variant in the Ancr. R. 70, is perh. an error for spereð.]
1. trans. To bar, bolt, or secure (a door or gate).
1375Barbour Bruce v. 389 The ȝettis than he gert thame spare, And sat and ete at all lasare. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxvi. (Nicholas) 363 Þocht þe ȝet wes before sparyt, with strinth he enterit In. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 5067 He fande þe mynster ȝatis spared; As a wodeman he fared. 1583Durham Dep. (Surtees) 314 The said Edward doore was spaired all the tyme the said geis was in eatyng. 1677Nicolson in Trans. R. Soc. Lit. (1870) IX. 319 Spare the dure, shut to the door. 1825Brockett N.C. Gloss., Spare, to shut, to close. 1894Heslop Northumbld. Gloss. 674 ‘Spare the yett,’ ‘Spare the door,’ are still in common use.
†2. To close (the lips or eyes) firmly. Obs.
c1400Rule St. Benet (Verse) 107 And spayr þi lipes, & hald þam still, So þat þay opyn noght with ill! c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 3847 He spared his eghen and lay still.
†3. To shut up; to keep out. Obs.
c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 4123 As a man in prisoun sparde. 1482Monk of Evesham lv. (Arb.) 107 The crosse..was lettyn done ageyne, and so sparyd other oute that wuld haue commyn in. |