different between spare vs scarce
spare
English
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /?sp??(?)/
- (General American) IPA(key): /?sp???/
- Rhymes: -??(?)
Etymology 1
From Middle English spare, spar, from Old English spær (“sparing, scant”), from Proto-Germanic *sparaz (compare with Dutch spaar(zaam), German spar(sam) and spär(lich), Swedish spar(sam), Icelandic sparr (“sparing”)), from Proto-Indo-European *sper- (compare Latin (pro)sperus (“lucky”), Old Church Slavonic ????? (spor?, “plentiful”), Albanian shperr (“earn money”), Persian ????? (sep?r, “entrust; deposit”), Ancient Greek ??????? (sparnós, “rare”), Sanskrit ????? (sphirá, “thick”)).
Adjective
spare (comparative sparer, superlative sparest)
- Scant; not abundant or plentiful.
- a spare diet
- Sparing; frugal; parsimonious; not spending much money.
- 1602, Richard Carew, Survey of Cornwall
- He was spare, […] but discreet of speech.
- 1602, Richard Carew, Survey of Cornwall
- Being more than what is necessary, or what must be used or reserved; not wanted, or not used; superfluous.
- I have no spare time.
- Held in reserve, to be used in an emergency.
- a spare anchor; a spare wheel or tyre
- Not occupied or in current use.
- Lean; lacking flesh; meager; thin; gaunt.
- (Britain, 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.
- 2006, Tate Hallaway, Tall, Dark & Dead:
- “That'll drive him spare.”
- (obsolete, Britain, dialect) Slow.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Grose to this entry?)
Derived terms
Descendants
- ? Welsh: sbâr
Translations
Noun
spare (plural spares)
- The act of sparing; moderation; restraint.
- 1600, Philemon Holland, The Romane Historie
- men slaine, then without any spare at all they trampled over the dead carkasses
- 1600, Philemon Holland, The Romane Historie
- Parsimony; frugal use.
- An opening in a petticoat or gown; a placket.
- That which has not been used or expended.
- A spare part, especially a spare tire.
- A superfluous or second-best person, specially (in a dynastic context) in the phrase "An heir and a spare".
- (bowling) 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.
- (bowling) 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.
- (Canada) A free period; a block of school during which one does not have a class.
Etymology 2
From Middle English sparen, sparien, from Old English sparian (“to spare, show mercy to, refrain from injuring or destroying”), from Proto-Germanic *spar?n?, *spar?n? (“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”).
Verb
spare (third-person singular simple present spares, present participle sparing, simple past and past participle spared)
- To show mercy.
- (intransitive) To desist; to stop; to refrain.
- (intransitive) To refrain from inflicting harm; to use mercy or forbearance.
- (transitive) To preserve from danger or punishment; to forbear to punish, injure, or harm; to show mercy.
- 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island
- Kill me, if you please, or spare me.
- 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island
- To keep.
- (intransitive) To be frugal; not to be profuse; to live frugally; to be parsimonious.
- (transitive) To keep to oneself; to forbear to impart or give.
- (transitive) To save or gain, as by frugality; to reserve, as from some occupation, use, or duty.
- (intransitive) To be frugal; not to be profuse; to live frugally; to be parsimonious.
- (transitive) (to give up): To deprive oneself of, as by being frugal; to do without; to dispense with; to give up; to part with.
- a. 1779, Earl of Roscommon, “The Twenty-second Ode of the First Book of Horace”:
- Where angry Jove did never spare / One breath of kind and temperate air.
- c. 1597, William Shakespeare, The History of Henry the Fourth (Part 1), Act V, scene iv:
- Poor Jack, farewell! / I could have better spared a better man
- a. 1779, Earl of Roscommon, “The Twenty-second Ode of the First Book of Horace”:
Descendants
- ? Welsh: sbario
Translations
Anagrams
- Asper, Earps, Pears, Peras, RESPA, Rapes, Spear, Spera, apers, apres, après, aprés, as per, asper, pares, parse, pears, prase, presa, præs., rapes, reaps, sarpe, spear
Danish
Etymology 1
From English spare. Related to the following verb.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /sp??r/, [?sb????], [?sb?æ??]
Noun
spare c (singular definite sparen, plural indefinite spare or spares)
- (bowling) spare (the act of knocking down all remaining pins in second ball of a frame)
Inflection
References
- “spare,1” in Den Danske Ordbog
Etymology 2
From Old Norse spara, from Proto-Germanic *spar?n?, cognate with Swedish spara, English spare, German sparen.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /spa?r?/, [?sb????]
- Homophones: sparer, sparre, sparrer
Verb
spare (past tense sparede, past participle sparet)
- to save
- to spare
- to economize
- to save up
Inflection
References
- “spare,2” in Den Danske Ordbog
Dutch
Pronunciation
Verb
spare
- (archaic) singular present subjunctive of sparen
French
Etymology 1
From Latin sparus
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /spa?/
Noun
spare m (plural spares)
- A fish of the superorder Acanthopterygii
Etymology 2
From English spare
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /sp??/
Noun
spare m (plural spares)
- (bowling) a spare.
Related terms
- strike
German
Verb
spare
- inflection of sparen:
- first-person singular present
- first/third-person singular subjunctive I
- singular imperative
Italian
Verb
spare
- third-person singular present indicative of sparere
Anagrams
- aspre, parse, persa, presa, saper, spera
Latin
Noun
spare
- vocative singular of sparus
Middle English
Etymology 1
Noun
spare
- Alternative form of sparre
Etymology 2
Verb
spare
- Alternative form of sparren (“to close”)
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
From Old Norse spara
Verb
spare (imperative spar, present tense sparer, passive spares, simple past sparte, past participle spart, present participle sparende)
- to save
Derived terms
- sparebank
References
- “spare” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
spare From the web:
- what spare means
- what spare ribs
- what spare tire do i need
- what spare parts for ar-15
- what spare parts for glock 19
- what spare ribs are the best
- what spare wheel do i need
- what spare time means
scarce
English
Alternative forms
- scarse (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle English scarce, skarce, scarse, scars, from Old Northern French scars, escars ("sparing, niggard, parsimonious, miserly, poor"; > French échars, Medieval Latin scarsus (“diminished, reduced”)), of uncertain origin. One theory is that it derives originally from a Late Latin *scarpsus, *excarpsus, a participle form of *excarpere (“take out”), from Latin ex- + carpere; yet the sense evolution is difficult to trace. Compare also Middle Dutch schaers (“sparing, niggard”), Middle Dutch schaers (“a pair of shears, plowshare”), scheeren (“to shear”).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /?sk??s/
- (General American) IPA(key): /?sk??s/
Adjective
scarce (comparative scarcer, superlative scarcest)
- Uncommon, rare; difficult to find; insufficient to meet a demand.
- You tell him silver is scarcer now in England, and therefore risen in value one fifth.
- (archaic) Scantily supplied (with); deficient (in); used with of.
Synonyms
- (uncommon, rare): geason, infrequent, raresome; see also Thesaurus:rare
Derived terms
Related terms
- scarcity
Translations
Adverb
scarce (not comparable)
- (now literary, archaic) Scarcely, only just.
- 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet Chapter 4:
- Yet had I scarce set foot in the passage when I stopped, remembering how once already this same evening I had played the coward, and run home scared with my own fears.
- 1906, Alfred Noyes, The Highwayman:
- He rose upright in the stirrups; he scarce could reach her hand,
- But she loosened her hair i' the casement! His face burnt like a brand
- As the black cascade of perfume came tumbling over his breast;
- And he kissed its waves in the moonlight,
- (Oh, sweet, black waves in the moonlight!)
- 1931, William Faulkner, Sanctuary, Vintage 1993, p. 122:
- Upon the barred and slitted wall the splotched shadow of the heaven tree shuddered and pulsed monstrously in scarce any wind.
- 1969, John Cleese, Monty Python's Flying Circus:
- Well, it's scarce the replacement then, is it?
- 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet Chapter 4:
Anagrams
- Craces, arcsec
Middle English
Noun
scarce
- Alternative form of sarse
scarce From the web:
- what scarce means
- what do scarce mean
- what does scarce mean
you may also like
- spare vs scarce
- deck vs veranda
- civil vs obedient
- model vs admonition
- principal vs cardinal
- promiscuous vs blue
- expressionless vs sepulchral
- reclusive vs lonely
- target vs proposal
- basis vs formula
- professed vs assumed
- dampen vs check
- talent vs turn
- effusive vs vigorous
- unpleasant vs sickening
- dirtiness vs filth
- unimpressible vs inscrutable
- quantity vs fragment
- redress vs compo
- provisions vs kai