spare
Americanverb (used with object)
-
spares,
present (3rd person singular)
-
spared,
past participle, past
-
sparing
present participle
-
to refrain from harming or destroying; leave uninjured; forbear to punish, hurt, or destroy.
to spare one's enemy.
-
to deal gently or leniently with; show consideration for.
His harsh criticism spared no one.
-
to save from strain, discomfort, embarrassment, or the like, or from a particular cause of it: to spare her needless embarrassment.
to spare him the bother;
to spare her needless embarrassment.
-
to refrain from, forbear, omit, or withhold, as action or speech.
Spare us the gory details.
-
to refrain from employing, as some instrument or recourse.
to spare the rod.
-
to set aside for a particular purpose.
to spare land for a garden.
- Synonyms:
- reserve
-
to give or lend, as from a supply, especially without inconvenience or loss: Can you spare me a dollar till payday?
Can you spare a cup of sugar?
Can you spare me a dollar till payday?
-
to dispense with or do without.
We can't spare a single worker during the rush hour.
-
to use economically or frugally; refrain from using up or wasting.
A walnut sundae, and don't spare the whipped cream!
-
to have remaining as excess or surplus.
We can make the curtains and have a yard to spare.
verb (used without object)
-
spares,
present (3rd person singular)
-
spared,
past participle, past
-
sparing
present participle
-
to use economy; be frugal.
-
to refrain from inflicting injury or punishment; exercise lenience or mercy.
-
Obsolete. to refrain from action; forbear.
adjective
-
sparer,
comparative
-
sparest
superlative
-
kept in reserve, as for possible use.
a spare part.
-
being in excess of present need; free for other use.
How do you like to relax in your spare time?
My travel adventures seem to soak up any spare cash I earn.
- Synonyms:
- extra
-
frugally restricted or meager, as a manner of living or a diet.
a spare regime.
-
lean or thin, as a person.
-
scanty or scant, as in amount or fullness.
-
economical, moderate, or temperate, as persons; sparing.
noun
-
spares
plural
-
a spare thing, part, etc., as an extra tire for emergency use.
-
Ceramics. an area at the top of a plaster mold for holding excess slip.
-
Bowling.
-
the knocking down of all the pins with two bowls.
-
a score so made.
-
verb
-
(tr) to refrain from killing, punishing, harming, or injuring
-
(tr) to release or relieve, as from pain, suffering, etc
-
(tr) to refrain from using
spare the rod, spoil the child
-
(tr) to be able to afford or give
I can't spare the time
-
(usually passive) (esp of Providence) to allow to survive
I'll see you again next year if we are spared
-
rare (intr) to act or live frugally
-
rare (intr) to show mercy
-
to exert oneself to the full
-
more than is required
two minutes to spare
adjective
-
(often immediately postpositive) in excess of what is needed; additional
are there any seats spare?
-
able to be used when needed
a spare part
-
(of a person) thin and lean
-
scanty or meagre
-
slang (postpositive) upset, angry, or distracted (esp in the phrase go spare )
noun
-
a duplicate kept as a replacement in case of damage or loss
-
a spare tyre
-
tenpin bowling
-
the act of knocking down all the pins with the two bowls of a single frame
-
the score thus made Compare strike
-
Synonym Usage
See thin.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
sparesimple
-
sparessimple
-
have sparedperfect
-
has sparedperfect
-
am sparingprogressive
-
are sparingprogressive
-
is sparingprogressive
-
have been sparingperfect progressive
-
has been sparingperfect progressive
Past
-
sparedsimple
-
had sparedperfect
-
was sparingprogressive
-
were sparingprogressive
-
had been sparingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of spare
First recorded before 900; (verb) Middle English sparen, Old English sparian; cognate with Dutch, German sparen, Old Norse spara; (noun and adjective) Middle English; compare Old English spær “sparing, frugal” (cognate with Old High German spar, Old Norse sparr
Explanation
Spare describes something that is extra. If you have a spare tire for your bike you can replace a flat, and if there's enough change in your pocket you can spare some to patch a friend's tire. As a noun, a verb, and an adjective, the word spare has many meanings. A leftover part is a spare, you can spare a life when you save an animal or person, and you have spare time when you finish a project early. If you "spare no expense" you spend lots of money and when you spare a friend's feelings, you keep upsetting details to yourself. And if you have a moment to spare, you have time to share.
Vocabulary lists containing spare
Vocabulary from the Introduction to "Reality is Broken" by Jane McGonigal
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
'Tis A Gift To Be Simple: Words For National Simplicity Day
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Front Desk
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Translation services, when available, take time most clinicians feel they can’t spare.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
Technologists envision a future where robots can supplement a declining labor force caused by shifting demographics, and spare humans from dangerous and dirty work.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
South Africa must avoid defeat in the second Test, starting on Sunday, to avoid losing the three-match series with a game to spare.
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026
The long-term nature of the leverage will also spare traders from the intense volatility decay experienced from holding leveraged ETFs that see big price swings and that reset daily.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 10, 2026
The sound of hammering was coming from the spare room over the garage.
From "Trouble at the Arcade (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #1)" by Franklin W. Dixon
That is the same form of leniency that prosecutors granted to Alibaba and EagleBank, which requires them to admit wrongdoing but spares them from being charged.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
Overall, the spares business has ballooned to about 23% of Howmet’s revenue, up from 11% in 2019.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
“While nothing can undo the loss of Zayde, this resolution spares his loved ones from having to relive these horrific events through a lengthy and painful jury trial.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2026
The pope will arrive by helicopter, a diplomatic subtlety that spares him from landing on French soil without actually visiting France.
From Barron's ● Mar. 25, 2026
And so each morning he spares her life in order to hear the end of the story.
From "Everything Sad Is Untrue" by Daniel Nayeri
Underwater aesthetics are sadly sparer, accentuating the fluorescent marine fauna.
From New York Times ● Jun. 29, 2023
But something different, sparer and clever is happening with “Enter Ghost,” thanks to Hammad’s adaptation of a Western play.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 4, 2023
Both Churchill and Zelenskyy inspired with their rhetoric, though Churchill’s words were more grandiose, while the Ukrainian leader’s message is sparer and more direct.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 23, 2022
Though its sparer instrumentation deviates from the futuristic electronic synthesis of “Running Up That Hill,” it shares in the song’s openness and wonder, in its enlightened feeling of breaking through.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 21, 2022
At Sandusky’s side sat his crony in all important undertakings––a much smaller, sparer man, with aggressive shoulders and restless eyes.
From Nan of Music Mountain by N. C. (Newell Convers) Wyeth
The softer light makes even the sparest of holiday décor feel homier.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 6, 2023
He’s known to demand only the sparest detail in his briefings, and his workdays frequently include hours watching cable news and posting on Twitter.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 1, 2020
She painted that too, in one of her sparest and most modern pictures: a red hand and forearm lost in a sea of black, interrupted by a shaft of white suggesting an absent god.
From New York Times ● Jan. 27, 2020
Ideally, they’ll have only the sparest of answers to cling to as they sort out the aftermath themselves.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2017
They understood each other, using the sparest words.
From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
I had invited them into my apartment expecting an awkward demonstration, but the work was remarkably thorough and spared me from having to do it myself.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
In September 1997 there was also Nora, which was briefly at tropical storm strength as its center passed along the California-Arizona border, but California was spared the kind of damage it delivered to Baja California.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026
She added that his age should not have spared him from a youth detention centre.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
Alireza Sepahi was arrested in the wake of Iran's January protests, was spared public execution in July after suffering a heart attack and married his fiancee on the eve of his death.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
Understood the most important thing—that he had indeed been spared.
From "The Fighting Ground" by Avi
What’s unsurprising about Chuck Lorre’s memoir: He dishes, and without sparing anyone, including himself.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
More than 90 percent of excess heat trapped by greenhouse gas emissions has been absorbed by the oceans, sparing land from warming but at severe cost to marine life, reefs and coastal communities.
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
With your home in Illinois paid off and a cash purchase in Florida, you’re largely sparing your monthly budget, but not completely.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
She says they were pitched as giving single people "access to a virtually infinite pool of strangers" and sparing them "from the possibility of rejection".
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
This new information led the prosecutor to drop the charges, sparing Ms. Lee a capital trial and, potentially, the death penalty.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
