remain vs spare

remain

verb
  • To continue unchanged in place, form, or condition, or undiminished in quantity; to abide; to stay; to endure; to last. 

  • To await; to be left to. 

  • To continue in a state of being. 

  • To be left after a number or quantity has been subtracted or cut off; to be left as not included or comprised. 

  • To stay after others or other parts have been removed or otherwise disappeared. 

noun
  • That which is left; relic; remainder. 

  • That which is left of a human being after the life is gone; relics; a dead body. 

  • Posthumous works or productions, especially literary works. 

spare

verb
  • To desist; to stop; to refrain. 

  • To keep to oneself; to forbear to impart or give. 

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

  • To preserve (someone) from danger or punishment; to forbear to punish, injure, or harm (someone); to show mercy towards. 

  • (to give up): To deprive oneself of, as by being frugal; to do without; to dispense with; to give up; to part with. 

  • To refrain from killing (someone) or having (someone) killed. 

  • To refrain from inflicting harm; to use mercy or forbearance. 

  • To be frugal; to not be profuse; to live frugally; to be parsimonious. 

adj
  • Not occupied or in current use. 

  • Very angry; frustrated or distraught. 

  • Scant; not abundant or plentiful. 

  • Being more than what is necessary, or what must be used or reserved; not wanted, or not used; superfluous. 

  • Sparing; frugal; parsimonious; not spending much money. 

  • Lean; lacking flesh; meager; thin; gaunt. 

  • Held in reserve, to be used in an emergency. 

noun
  • Parsimony; frugal use. 

  • An opening in a petticoat or gown; a placket. 

  • A superfluous or second-best person. 

  • 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. 

  • assistant or extra hand (typically on buses and lorries) 

  • A free period; a block of school during which one does not have a class. 

  • The act of sparing; moderation; restraint. 

  • A spare part, especially a spare tire. 

  • 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. 

  • That which has not been used or expended. 

How often have the words remain and spare occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )