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Spare vs Pardon - What's the difference?

spare | pardon |

In transitive terms the difference between spare and pardon

is that spare is (to give up) To deprive oneself of, as by being frugal; to do without; to dispense with; to give up; to part with while pardon is to refrain from exacting as a penalty.

As nouns the difference between spare and pardon

is that spare is the act of sparing; moderation; restraint while pardon is forgiveness for an offence.

As verbs the difference between spare and pardon

is that spare is to show mercy while pardon is to forgive.

As an adjective spare

is scanty; not abundant or plentiful.

As an interjection pardon is

Often used when someone does not understand what another person says.

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

    * * * * * * * * * * * * ----

    pardon

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Forgiveness for an offence.
  • * 1748 : Samuel Richardson, Clarissa
  • a step, that could not be taken with the least hope of ever obtaining pardon from or reconciliation with any of my friends;
  • (legal) An order that releases a convicted criminal without further punishment, prevents future punishment, or (in some jurisdictions) removes an offence from a person's criminal record, as if it had never been committed.
  • * 1974 : President Gerald Ford, Proclamation 4311
  • I... have granted and by these presents do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States ...

    Derived terms

    * I beg your pardon

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To forgive.
  • * 1599 : (William Shakespeare),
  • O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, / That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!
  • * 1815 : (Jane Austen), (Emma)
  • I hope you will not find he has outstepped the truth more than may be pardoned , in consideration of the motive.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1 , passage=In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned .}}
  • To refrain from exacting as a penalty.
  • * Shakespeare
  • I pardon thee thy life before thou ask it.
  • (legal) To grant an official pardon for a crime; unguilt.
  • * 1900', , ' (The House Behind the Cedars) , Chapter I,
  • The murderer, he recalled, had been tried and sentenced to imprisonment for life, but was pardoned by a merciful governor after serving a year of his sentence.

    Derived terms

    * pardonable * pardoner * pardon me * pardon my French * unpardonable

    Interjection

  • Pardon? , What did you say?, Can you say that again?