Marginal vs Spare - What's the difference?
marginal | spare |
(uncomparable) Of, relating to, or located at or near a margin or edge; also figurative usages of location and margin (edge) .
# Written in the margin of a book.
#* 1999 , R. I. Page, Introduction to English Runes , Boydell Press, page 198:
# (geography) Sharing a border; geographically adjacent.
(comparable) Determined by a small margin; having a salient characteristic determined by a small margin.
# Of a value, or having a characteristic that is of a value, that is close to being unacceptable or leading to exclusion from a group or category.
# (of land) Barely productive.
# (politics, chiefly, UK, Australia, NZ, of a constituency) Subject to a change in sitting member with only a small change in voting behaviour, this usually being inferred from the small winning margin of the previous election.
#* 2002 , Andrew Geddes, Jonathan Tonge, Labour?s Second Landslide: The British General Election 2001 ,
#* 2007 , Robert Waller, Byron Criddle, The Almanac of British Politics ,
#* 2010 , Nick Economou, Zareh Ghazarian, Australian Politics For Dummies ,
(economics, uncomparable) Pertaining to changes resulting from a unit increase in production or consumption of a good.
scanty; not abundant or plentiful.
* {{quote-news
, year=2012
, date=May 24
, author=Nathan Rabin
, title=Film: Reviews: Men In Black 3
, work=The Onion AV Club
sparing; frugal; parsimonious; chary.
* Carew
* {{quote-news, year=2009, date=April 12, author=Phil Patton, title=At VW, the Italian Accent Gets Stronger, work=New York Times
, 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.
* Spenser
Held in reserve, to be used in an emergency.
lean; wanting flesh; meager; thin; gaunt.
* Shakespeare
(obsolete, UK, dialect) slow
The act of sparing; moderation; restraint.
* Holland
Parsimony; frugal use.
* Spenser
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.
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
#* 1883 , (Robert Louis Stevenson), (Treasure Island)
#* {{quote-news, date=21 August 2012, first=Ed, last=Pilkington, newspaper=The Guardian
, title= To keep.
# To be frugal; not to be profuse; to live frugally; to be parsimonious.
#* (rfdate) (Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
# To keep to oneself; to forbear to impart or give.
#* (rfdate) (John Milton)
#* (rfdate) Bible, Proverbs xvii. 27
# (transitive)} To save or gain, as by frugality; to reserve, as from some occupation, use, or duty.
#* (rfdate) (Knolles)
(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)
* (rfdate) (Shakespeare)
* , chapter=22
, title=
As adjectives the difference between marginal and spare
is that marginal is (uncomparable) of, relating to, or located at or near a margin or edge; also figurative usages of location and margin (edge) while spare is scanty; not abundant or plentiful.As nouns the difference between marginal and spare
is that marginal is something that is while spare is the act of sparing; moderation; restraint.As a verb spare is
to show mercy.marginal
English
Adjective
(en-adj)- The marginal area at the edge of the salt-marsh has its own plants.
- In recent years there has been an increase in violence against marginal groups.
- There were more marginal notes than text.
- The early pages had marginal notes most of which were lost when rats nibbled away the manuscript edges.
- Monmouthshire is a Welsh county marginal to England.
- His writing ability was marginal at best.
- ''Having reviewed the test, there are two students below the required standard and three more who are marginal .
- He farmed his marginal land with difficulty.
- In Bristol West, Labour had a majority of only 1,000, so the seat is considered highly marginal this time around.
page 79,
- In ‘battleground’ seats with the Conservatives, Liberal Democrat vote shares increased most in the most marginal seats.
page 58,
- In Outer London, Harrow East is now a more marginal Labour hold than Harrow West.
unnumbered page,
- The pendulum lists the seats from least marginal' to most '''marginal''' for the government on one side, and least '''marginal''' to most ' marginal for the opposition on the other side.
Derived terms
* comarginal * marginal cost * marginal utility * postmarginal * submarginalAnagrams
* ----spare
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) spare, spar, from (etyl) ‘thick’).Adjective
(er)- a spare diet
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. }}
- He was spare , but discreet of speech.
citation
- I have no spare time.
- if that no spare clothes he had to give
- a spare''' anchor; a '''spare bed or room
- O, give me the spare men, and spare me the great ones.
- (Grose)
Derived terms
* go spare * spare part * spare time * spare tire * spare tyre * spare wheelNoun
(en noun)- Killing for sacrifice, without any spare .
- Poured out their plenty without spite or spare .
Etymology 2
From (etyl) sparen, sparien, from (etyl) .Verb
(spar)- He will not spare in the day of vengeance.
- Kill me, if you please, or spare me.
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.}}
- I, who at some times spend, at others spare , / Divided between carelessness and care.
- [Thou] thy Father's dreadful thunder didst not spare .
- He that hath knowledge, spareth his words.
- All the time he could spare from the necessary cares of his weighty charge, he bestowed on serving of God.
- Where angry Jove did never spare / One breath of kind and temperate air.
- I could have better spared a better man.
The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=Not unnaturally, “Auntie” took this communication in bad part.