Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Sparing \Spar"ing\, a.
   Spare; saving; frugal; merciful. --Bacon. -- {Spar"ing*ly},
   adv. -- {Spar"ing*ness}, n.

Spare \Spare\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Spared}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Sparing}.] [AS. sparian, fr. sp[ae]r spare, sparing, saving;
   akin to D. & G. sparen, OHG. spar?n, Icel. & Sw. spara, Dan.
   spare See {Spare}, a.]
   1. To use frugally or stintingly, as that which is scarce or
      valuable; to retain or keep unused; to save. ``No cost
      would he spare.'' --Chaucer.

            [Thou] thy Father's dreadful thunder didst not
            spare.                                --Milton.

            He that hath knowledge, spareth his words. --Prov.
                                                  xvii. 27.

   2. To keep to one's self; to forbear to impart or give.

            Be pleased your plitics to spare.     --Dryden.

            Spare my sight the pain Of seeing what a world of
            tears it costs you.                   --Dryden.

   3. To preserve from danger or punishment; to forbear to
      punish, injure, or harm; to show mercy to.

            Spare us, good Lord.                  --Book of
                                                  Common Prayer.

            Dim sadness did not spare That time celestial
            visages.                              --Milton.

            Man alone can whom he conquers spare. --Waller.

   4. To save or gain, as by frugality; to reserve, as from some
      occupation, use, or duty.

            All the time he could spare from the necessary cares
            of his weighty charge, he ?estowed on . . . serving
            of God.                               --Knolles.

   5. To deprive one's self of, as by being frugal; to do
      without; to dispense with; to give up; to part with.

            Where angry Jove did never spare One breath of kind
            and temperate air.                    --Roscommon.

            I could have better spared a better man. --Shak.

   {To spare one's self}.
      (a) To act with reserve. [Obs.]

                Her thought that a lady should her spare.
                                                  --Chaucer.
      (b) To save one's self labor, punishment, or blame.

Source : WordNet®

sparing
     adj : avoiding waste; "an economical meal"; "an economical
           shopper"; "a frugal farmer"; "a frugal lunch"; "a
           sparing father and a spending son"; "sparing in their
           use of heat and light"; "stinting in bestowing gifts";
           "thrifty because they remember the great Depression";
           "`scotch' is used only informally" [syn: {economical},
           {frugal}, {scotch}, {stinting}]