Substitute vs Spare - What's the difference?

In lang=en terms the difference between substitute and spare

is that substitute is to serve as a replacement (for someone or something) while 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.

As verbs the difference between substitute and spare

is that substitute is to use in place of something else, with the same function while spare is to show mercy.

As nouns the difference between substitute and spare

is that substitute is a replacement or stand-in for something that achieves a similar result or purpose while spare is the act of sparing; moderation; restraint.

As an adjective spare is

scanty; not abundant or plentiful.

substitute

English

Verb

(substitut)

To use in place of something else, with the same function.

I had no shallots so I substituted onion.

In the phrase "substitute X for Y", to use X in place of Y. With increasing frequency used in the semantically opposite sense (see the OED's notes).

I had to substitute new parts for the old ones.

In the phrase "substitute X with/by Y", to use Y in place of X; to replace X with Y

I had to substitute old parts with the new ones. (This usage was formerly proscribed.)

(sports) To remove (a player) from the field of play and bring on another in his place.

He was playing poorly and was substituted after twenty minutes

* {{quote-news

, year=2011 , date=April 11 , author=Phil McNulty , title=Liverpool 3 - 0 Man City , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=Mario Balotelli replaced Tevez but his contribution was so negligible that he suffered the indignity of being substituted himself as time ran out, a development that encapsulated a wretched 90 minutes for City and boss Roberto Mancini. }}

To serve as a replacement (for someone or something)

* 1987 , , Essays in Economics, Vol. 2 , p. 75

Accumulation of wealth by this route may substitute for personal saving.

Usage notes

The verb "to substitute" can be used transitively in two opposite ways. "To substitute X" may mean either "use X in place of something else" (as in definitions 1 and 2), or "use something else in place of X" (as in definitions 3 and 4). The latter use is more recent, but it is widespread and now generally accepted (see the COED's note on the matter). However, if the indirect object (the "something else") is omitted, the preposition is also omitted, and the reader or hearer cannot tell which sense is meant: * "Substitute butter for olive oil" = Use butter instead of olive oil * "Substitute olive oil for butter" = Use olive oil instead of butter * "Substitute butter" = ??? * "Substitute olive oil" = ???

Noun

(en noun)

A replacement or stand-in for something that achieves a similar result or purpose.

* De Quincey

Ladies [in Shakespeare's age] wore masks as the sole substitute known to our ancestors for the modern parasol.

(sports) A player who is available to replace another if the need arises, and who may or may not actually do so.

* {{quote-news

, year=2011 , date=November 3 , author=David Ornstein , title=Macc Tel-Aviv 1 - 2 Stoke , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=Dean Whitehead opened the scoring shortly after the break with a low finish and substitute Peter Crouch sealed the win with a tap-in.}}

(historical) One who enlists for military service in the place of a conscript.

Synonyms

* See also

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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