Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SPAR'ING-LY, adv.

1. Not abundantly. – Shak.
2. Frugally; parsimoniously; not lavishly. High titles of honor were in the king's minority sparingly granted, because dignity then waited on desert. – Hayward. Commend but sparingly whom thou dost love. – Denham.
3. Abstinently; moderately. Christians are obliged to taste even the innocent pleasures of life but sparingly. – Atterbury.
4. Seldom; not frequently. The morality of a grave sentence, affected by Lucan, is more sparingly used by Virgil. – Dryden.
5. Cautiously; tenderly. – Bacon.