1. [n]  a married man; a woman's partner in marriage
2. [v]  use cautiously and frugally; "I try to economize my spare time"; "conserve your energy for the ascent to the summit"

1. \Hus"band\, n. [OE. hosebonde, husbonde, a husband, the
   master of the house or family, AS. h?sbonda master of the
   house; h?s house + bunda, bonda, householder, husband; prob.
   fr. Icel. h?sb[=o]ndi house master, husband; h?s house +
   b?andi dwelling, inhabiting, p. pr. of b?a to dwell; akin to
   AS. b?an, Goth. bauan. See {House Be}, and cf. {Bond} a
   slave, {Boor}.]
   1. The male head of a household; one who orders the economy
      of a family. [Obs.]
   2. A cultivator; a tiller; a husbandman. [Obs.] --Shak.
            The painful husband, plowing up his ground.
                                                  --Hakewill.
            He is the neatest husband for curious ordering his
            domestic and field accommodations.    --Evelyn.
   3. One who manages or directs with prudence and economy; a
      frugal person; an economist. [R.]
            God knows how little time is left me, and may I be a
            good husband, to improve the short remnant left me.
                                                  --Fuller.
   4. A married man; a man who has a wife; -- the correlative to
      wife.
            The husband and wife are one person in law.
                                                  --Blackstone.
   5. The male of a pair of animals. [R.] --Dryden.
   {A ship's husband} (Naut.), an agent representing the owners
      of a ship, who manages its expenses and receipts.
   

2. \Hus"band\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Husbanded}; p. pr. &
   vb. n. {Husbanding}.]
   1. To direct and manage with frugality; to use or employ to
      good purpose and the best advantage; to spend, apply, or
      use, with economy.
            For my means, I'll husband them so well, They shall
            go far.                               --Shak.
   2. To cultivate, as land; to till. [R.]
            Land so trim and rarely husbanded.    --Evelyn.
   3. To furnish with a husband. [R.] --Shak.
   

i.e., the "house-band," connecting and keeping together the whole family. A man when betrothed was esteemed from that time a husband (Matt. 1:16, 20; Luke 2:5). A recently married man was exempt from going to war for "one year" (Deut. 20:7; 24:5).