spare
/spɛɚ/ noun C2- The act of sparing; moderation; restraint.
- Parsimony; frugal use.
- An opening in a petticoat or gown; a placket.
- That which has not been used or expended.
- A spare tire. · I stopped to help out. Do you have a spare? [Said by one motorist to another with a flat tire.]
- 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.
- A superfluous or second-best person. · an heir and a spare
- 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.
Plural spares
From the library
Sometime when you have a year or two to spare I commend to you the study of Professor Moriarty.”
Rising up angrily, he caught him and was about to kill him, when the Mouse piteously entreated, saying: “If you would only spare my life, I would be sure to repay your kindness.” The Lion laughed and let him go.
With them he trapped a Stork that had fractured his leg in the net and was earnestly beseeching the Farmer to spare his life.
On seeing this, his Dogs took counsel together, and said, “It is time for us to be off, for if the master spare not his oxen, who work for his gain, how can we expect him to spare us?”
Other matches
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