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Safe vs Spare - What's the difference?

safe | spare |

As nouns the difference between safe and spare

is that safe is safe while spare is the act of sparing; moderation; restraint.

As an adjective spare is

scanty; not abundant or plentiful.

As a verb spare is

to show mercy.

safe

English

(wikipedia safe)

Adjective

(er)
  • Not in danger; free from harm's reach.
  • Free from risk; harmless, riskless.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
    • , chapter=19 citation , passage=When Timothy and Julia hurried up the staircase to the bedroom floor, where a considerable commotion was taking place, Tim took Barry Leach with him. He had him gripped firmly by the arm, since he felt it was not safe to let him loose, and he had no immediate idea what to do with him.}}
  • Providing protection from danger; providing shelter.
  • (baseball) When a batter successfully reaches first base, or when a baserunner successfully advances to the next base or returns to the base he last occupied; not out.
  • Properly secured; secure.
  • (used after a noun, often, forming a compound) Not in danger from the specified source of harm.
  • (UK, slang) Great, cool, awesome, respectable;
  • * {{quote-newsgroup, year=1996, date=August 12, author="Mandrake", title=Re: Multiple Messages - an apology
    • , newsgroup=uk.people.gothic citation , passage=and you also forgot to mentioned(SIC) the wheels man you know bmw playing¶ ragga jungle hip hop tunes¶ and on the mobile¶ yeah safe !¶ nice one¶ later}}
  • * {{quote-book, year=1996 or 1997, year_published=2002, publisher=Methuen
    • , author=Roy Williams, title=Plays 1: The No Boys Cricket Club / Startstruck / Lift Off citation , isbn=9780413772091, page=165 , passage=Young Mal: Yu can’t. Irie means yer cool, yer safe , everything awright.}}
  • * {{quote-book, year=2000, year_published=2005, publisher=Justin, Charles & Co.
    • , author=Teddy Hayes, title=Dead by Popular Demand, section=Chapter 14 citation , pageurl=http://books.google.com/books?id=mjbGFX-X_-8C&pg=PT145&dq=yeah+safe+laters&hl=en&ei=0r5ZTPPdE4ymOKyAufII&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CD4Q6AEwAw
  • v=onepage&q&f=false
    • , isbn=9781932112238, page=134 , passage=“If you need more, just ring, yeah?” Punch said.¶ “Safe ,” Brian answered.}}
  • * {{quote-book, year=2002, publisher=Trentham Books, author=Danny Braverman
    • , title=Playing a Part: Drama and Citizenship, section=One Thursday — a short play citation , pageurl=http://books.google.com/books?id=pJIGiwslfZoC&pg=PA62&dq=safe , isbn=9781858562424, page=62 , passage=They end the call.'' Fami ''goes over to'' Paul. ''They touch hands .¶ Femi: Yeah, safe man.}}
  • * (rfdate) Steve Carter, Love, Sex and Tesco's Finest Cava , page 169:
    • “Yeah, safe mate, wassup?” says one hoodie, who should at least be credited with attempting a more detailed sentence construction.
  • Reliable.
  • Cautious.

    • Synonyms

    * harmless, riskless * secure * (cool) wicked, cool, awesome * (reliable) trustworthy

    Antonyms

    * unsafe * dangerous * harmful * insecure

    Hyponyms

    * (not in danger from the specified source of harm) * *

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A box, usually made of metal, in which valuables can be locked for safekeeping.
  • (slang) A condom.
  • * 1999 , (Rita Ciresi), Pink Slip , Delta (1999), ISBN 0385323638, page 328:
    • She'd better have an arsenal of Trojans in her purse just in case he wasn't carrying a safe in his back pocket.
  • (dated) A ventilated or refrigerated chest or closet for securing provisions from noxious animals or insects.

    • Synonyms

    * (box for storing valuables) coffer, lockbox, strongbox * (condom) see also .

    Derived terms

    * * * * *

    See also

    * save * safety

    Statistics

    *

    External links

    * * * 1000 English basic words ----

    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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