Let vs Spare - What's the difference?

let | spare |

As nouns the difference between let and spare

is that let is milk or let can be letter 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.

let

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) leten, .

Verb

(label) To allow to, not to prevent (+ infinitive, but usually without (to)).

*(Bible), (w) viii. 28

*:Pharaoh said, I will let you go.

*(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)

*:If your name be Horatio, as I am let to know it is

*1971 , , (The Tombs of Atuan)

*:He could not be let die of thirst there alone in the dark.

*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author=(Oliver Burkeman)

, volume=189, issue=2, page=27, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= The tao of tech , passage=The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you "stay up to date with what your friends are doing",

To leave.

*(Edmund Spenser) (c.1552–1599)

*:Yet neither spins nor cards, ne cares nor frets, / But to her mother Nature all her care she lets .

(label) To allow the release of (a fluid).

(label) To allow possession of (a property etc.) in exchange for rent.

(label) To give, grant, or assign, as a work, privilege, or contract; often with out .

(label)

To cause (+ bare infinitive).

Soo within a whyle kynge Pellinore cam with a grete hoost / and salewed the peple and the kyng / and ther was grete ioye made on euery syde / Thenne the kyng lete serche how moche people of his party ther was slayne / And ther were founde but lytel past two honderd men slayne and viij kny?tes of the table round in their pauelions

*1818 , (John Keats), "To—":

*:Time's sea hath been five years at its slow ebb, / Long hours have to and fro let creep the sand.

Synonyms

* (to allow) allow, permit

Usage notes

The use of "let" to introduce an imperative may sometimes be confused with its use, as its own imperative , in the sense of "to allow". For example, the sentence "Let me go to the store." could either be a second-person imperative of "let" (addressing someone who might prevent the speaker from going to the store) or a first-person singular imperative of "go" (not implying any such preventer).

Etymology 2

(etyl) . More at late, delay.

Verb

(archaic) To hinder, prevent; to obstruct (someone or something).

* Bible, 2. Thessalonians ii. 7

He who now letteth' will ' let , until he be taken out of the way.

* Tennyson

Mine ancient wound is hardly whole, / And lets me from the saddle.

(obsolete) To prevent or obstruct (to) do something, or (that) something happen.

* 1526 , (William Tyndale), trans. Bible , Acts VIII:

And as they went on their waye, they cam unto a certayne water, and the gelded man sayde: Se here is water, what shall lett me to be baptised?

Noun

(en noun)

An obstacle or hindrance.

*, II.16:

*:Paulus Emilius'' going to the glorious expedition of ''Macedon'', advertised the people of ''Rome'' during his absence not to speake of his actions: ''For the licence of judgements is an especiall let in great affaires.

*Latimer

*:Consider whether your doings be to the let of your salvation or not.

(tennis) The hindrance caused by the net during serve, only if the ball falls legally.

Statistics

Anagrams

* * * 1000 English basic words English irregular past participles English irregular simple past forms English irregular verbs English terms with multiple etymologies English verbs with base form identical to past participle ----

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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