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Excess vs Spare - What's the difference?

excess | spare | Synonyms |

As nouns the difference between excess and spare

is that excess is the state of surpassing or going beyond limits; the being of a measure beyond sufficiency, necessity, or duty; that which exceeds what is usual or proper; immoderateness; superfluity; superabundance; extravagance; as, an excess of provisions or of light while spare is the act of sparing; moderation; restraint.

As adjectives the difference between excess and spare

is that excess is more than is normal, necessary or specified while spare is scanty; not abundant or plentiful.

As a verb spare is

to show mercy.

excess

English

Noun

(es) (Spherical excess)
  • The state of surpassing or going beyond limits; the being of a measure beyond sufficiency, necessity, or duty; that which exceeds what is usual or proper; immoderateness; superfluity; superabundance; extravagance; as, an excess of provisions or of light.
  • * , King John , act 4, scene 2:
    • To gild refined gold, to paint the lily,
    To throw a perfume on the violet, . . .
    Is wasteful and ridiculous excess .
  • * , "Jealosy", in The Poetical Works of William Walsh (1797), page 19 (Google preview):
    • That kills me with excess' of grief, this with ' excess of joy.
  • The degree or amount by which one thing or number exceeds another; remainder.
    • The difference between two numbers is the excess of one over the other.
  • An undue indulgence of the appetite; transgression of proper moderation in natural gratifications; intemperance; dissipation.
  • * :
    • And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess .
  • * 1667 , , Paradise Lost , Book III:
    • Fair Angel, thy desire . . .
    . . . leads to no excess
    That reaches blame
  • (geometry) Spherical excess, the amount by which the sum of the three angles of a spherical triangle exceeds two right angles. The spherical excess is proportional to the area of the triangle.
  • (British, insurance) A condition on an insurance policy by which the insured pays for a part of the claim.

    • Synonyms

    * (qualifier) (l)

    Antonyms

    * deficiency

    Related terms

    * exceed * excessive

    Adjective

    (-)
  • More than is normal, necessary or specified.

    • Derived terms

    * excess baggage

    See also

    * usury

    External links

    * * (Webster 1913)

    spare

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) spare, spar, from (etyl) ‘thick’).

    Adjective

    (er)
  • scanty; not abundant or plentiful.
    • a spare diet
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2012 , date=May 24 , author=Nathan Rabin , title=Film: Reviews: Men In Black 3 , work=The Onion AV Club citation , page= , passage=Jones’ sad eyes betray a pervasive pain his purposefully spare dialogue only hints at, while the perfectly cast Brolin conveys hints of playfulness and warmth while staying true to the craggy stoicism at the character’s core. }}
  • sparing; frugal; parsimonious; chary.
  • * Carew
    • He was spare , but discreet of speech.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2009, date=April 12, author=Phil Patton, title=At VW, the Italian Accent Gets Stronger, work=New York Times citation
    • , passage=Under Hartmut Warkuss, its design director until 2003, Volkswagen styling celebrated its Teutonic origins and the spare modernist tradition expressed in Braun radios and coffee makers, reference points for the neomodern simplicity of the iPod. }}
  • Being over and above what is necessary, or what must be used or reserved; not wanted, or not used; superfluous.
    • I have no spare time.
  • * Spenser
    • if that no spare clothes he had to give
  • Held in reserve, to be used in an emergency.
    • a spare''' anchor; a '''spare bed or room
  • lean; wanting flesh; meager; thin; gaunt.
  • * Shakespeare
    • O, give me the spare men, and spare me the great ones.
  • (obsolete, UK, dialect) slow
    • (Grose)
    Derived terms
    * go spare * spare part * spare time * spare tire * spare tyre * spare wheel

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The act of sparing; moderation; restraint.
  • * Holland
    • Killing for sacrifice, without any spare .
  • Parsimony; frugal use.
  • * Spenser
    • Poured out their plenty without spite or spare .
  • An opening in a petticoat or gown; a placket.
  • That which has not been used or expended.
  • A spare part, especially a spare tire.
  • (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.

    • Etymology 2

    From (etyl) sparen, sparien, from (etyl) .

    Verb

    (spar)
  • To show mercy.
  • # To desist; to stop; to refrain.
  • # To refrain from inflicting harm; to use mercy or forbearance.
  • # To preserve from danger or punishment; to forbear to punish, injure, or harm; to show mercy.
  • #* Bible, (w) vi. 34
  • He will not spare in the day of vengeance.
  • #* 1883 , (Robert Louis Stevenson), (Treasure Island)
  • Kill me, if you please, or spare me.
  • #* {{quote-news, date=21 August 2012, first=Ed, last=Pilkington, newspaper=The Guardian
    • , title= Death penalty on trial: should Reggie Clemons live or die? , passage=Reggie Clemons has one last chance to save his life. After 19 years on death row in Missouri for the murder of two young women, he has been granted a final opportunity to persuade a judge that he should be spared execution by lethal injection.}}
  • To keep.
  • # To be frugal; not to be profuse; to live frugally; to be parsimonious.
  • #* (rfdate) (Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
  • I, who at some times spend, at others spare , / Divided between carelessness and care.
  • # To keep to oneself; to forbear to impart or give.
  • #* (rfdate) (John Milton)
  • [Thou] thy Father's dreadful thunder didst not spare .
  • #* (rfdate) Bible, Proverbs xvii. 27
  • He that hath knowledge, spareth his words.
  • # (transitive)} To save or gain, as by frugality; to reserve, as from some occupation, use, or duty.
  • #* (rfdate) (Knolles)
  • All the time he could spare from the necessary cares of his weighty charge, he bestowed on serving of God.
  • (to give up) To deprive oneself of, as by being frugal; to do without; to dispense with; to give up; to part with.
  • * (rfdate) (Roscommon)
    • Where angry Jove did never spare / One breath of kind and temperate air.
  • * (rfdate) (Shakespeare)
    • I could have better spared a better man.
  • * , chapter=22
    • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=Not unnaturally, “Auntie” took this communication in bad part.

    Anagrams

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