Crossword Genius

Spare appropriate to Paddington, maybe (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

forbear

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'spare' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'to paddington maybe' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'to' could be 'for' and 'for' is present in the answer.
'paddington' could be 'bear' (Paddington Bear is an example) and 'bear' is present in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'appropriate' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for forbear that I've seen before include "Refrain from doing something" , "Be patient" , "Hold back" , "Abstain" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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