SPARE
What does "SPARE" mean?
Kept in reserve or available beyond what is currently needed.
Meanings
- Additional to what is required; held in reserve. Keep a spare key with a trusted neighbour.
- Thin or lean; sparse and unadorned. His prose was spare, with not a wasted word.
- To refrain from harming, or to give from one's resources. Could you spare a few minutes to help?
- A duplicate item kept for replacement, especially a spare tyre. The spare was flat too, so we had to walk.
- In bowling, knocking down all ten pins with two rolls of one frame. She picked up the spare on the last frame to tie the game. technical
Did you know?
- In bowling a spare is worth more than the ten pins you knocked down: it adds your next single roll on top, so clearing the frame in two tries can quietly out-score sloppy strikes.
Word origin
From Old English 'sparian' (to refrain, to leave unharmed) and the related adjective 'spaer' (frugal, sparing), from a Proto-Germanic root meaning to be thrifty.
Remember it
SPARE is PARE with an S: to pare is to trim down, and spare things are the trimmed-down extras you set aside.
A little poem
Spare key in cold hands-
the lock you swore you'd never
need is the one shut.
haiku
Wordplay
- I asked the bowler if he had a moment to spare, and he said only if he could knock down all ten in the next two rolls.
What it teaches
What you hold in reserve is only useful if you remember you have it.
Quick facts
What does SPARE mean?
Kept in reserve or available beyond what is currently needed.
Is SPARE a valid word?
Yes — SPARE is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is SPARE?
SPARE has 5 letters and 1 syllable.
Where does SPARE come from?
From Old English 'sparian' (to refrain, to leave unharmed) and the related adjective 'spaer' (frugal, sparing), from a Proto-Germanic root meaning to be thrifty.
What can SPARE teach us?
What you hold in reserve is only useful if you remember you have it.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.