SPARING • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Sparing

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/spˈɛrɪŋ/ Listen

adjective

Sparing adj. Spare; saving; frugal; merciful.

verb

Spare v. t. (past & past part. spared; pres. part. sparing)

1.

To use frugally or stintingly, as that which is scarce or valuable; to retain or keep unused; to save. "No cost would he spare." "(Thou) thy Father's dreadful thunder didst not spare." "He that hath knowledge, spareth his words."

2.

To keep to one's self; to forbear to impart or give. "Be pleased your plitics to spare." "Spare my sight the pain Of seeing what a world of tears it costs you."

3.

To preserve from danger or punishment; to forbear to punish, injure, or harm; to show mercy to. "Spare us, good Lord." "Dim sadness did not spare That time celestial visages." "Man alone can whom he conquers spare."

4.

To save or gain, as by frugality; to reserve, as from some occupation, use, or duty.

5.

To deprive one's self 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." "I could have better spared a better man."

To spare one's self.

(a)

To act with reserve. (Obs.) "Her thought that a lady should her spare."

(b)

To save one's self labor, punishment, or blame.

Spare v. i.

1.

To be frugal; not to be profuse; to live frugally; to be parsimonious. "I, who at some times spend, at others spare, Divided between carelessness and care."

2.

To refrain from inflicting harm; to use mercy or forbearance. "He will not spare in the day of vengeance."

3.

To desist; to stop; to refrain. (Obs.)

See images of 'Sparing'

Etymology of 'Sparing'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Sparing" Quotes from Famous Books

... though waiting for confirmation of an unpleasant rumor. Not a file-cabinet stood open, not a typewriter was moving. "Listen, you people," Winfree growled, pointing his swagger-stick like a weapon, not sparing even Corporal Peggy MacHenery his anger; "We've got a Potlatch Day coming up, the biggest ever. Now get on the ball, dammit! I don't want to see one of you stopping for breath again till Xmas Day." The lieutenants and sergeants flushed; the girl privates jumped their fingers onto typewriter ...

— The Great Potlatch Riots • Allen Kim Lang

... appointment set for so early a moment, a long and confidential exchange of views on a variety of subjects. When this was finished, Johnnie rang, in turn, Messrs. Vanderbilt, Carnegie and Rockefeller, sparing these gentlemen all the time in the world. (When any one of them did indeed call for him, fulfilling an appointment, what a gorgeous blue plush hat the millionaire wore! and what a royally ...

— The Rich Little Poor Boy • Eleanor Gates

... little fort or hold. For if the field be kept, and the sum of the enterprise pursued, those smaller things will come in of themselves: indeed a man would not leave some important piece enemy at his back. In like manner, the use of confutation in the delivery of sciences ought to be very sparing; and to serve to remove strong preoccupations and prejudgments, and not to minister and excite ...

— The Advancement of Learning • Francis Bacon

... martyr. It is crowds that have furnished the torrents of blood requisite for the triumph of every belief. It is not necessary to go back to the heroic ages to see what crowds are capable of in this latter direction. They are never sparing of their life in an insurrection, and not long since a general,[2] becoming suddenly popular, might easily have found a hundred thousand men ready to sacrifice their lives for his cause had ...

— The Crowd • Gustave le Bon

... her father's shame might be the very thing, of all things, that was to discipline her and make her a good and useful woman; and that's much more than being a happy one, Mrs. March; we can't any of us be truly happy, no matter what's done for us. I tried to make believe that I was sparing her alone, but I knew I was sparing myself, too, and that made it harder to decide." She suddenly addressed herself to us both: "What would you ...

— A Pair of Patient Lovers • William Dean Howells

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