spare

[ spair ]

/ spɛər /

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See synonyms for: spare / spared / sparing / spareness on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), spared, spar·ing.

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 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.

to give or lend, as from a supply, especially without inconvenience or loss: 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), spared, spar·ing.

to use economy; be frugal.

to refrain from inflicting injury or punishment; exercise lenience or mercy.

Obsolete. to refrain from action; forbear.

adjective, spar·er, spar·est.

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.

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

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.Compare strike (def. 69).

OTHER WORDS FOR spare

6 reserve.

15 extra.

See synonyms for spare on Thesaurus.com

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Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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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

synonym study for spare

17. See thin.

OTHER WORDS FROM spare

spare·a·ble, adjectivespare·ly, adverbspare·ness, nounspar·er, noun

Words nearby spare

sparagmos, sparassis, sparaxis, spar buoy, spar deck, spare, spared, spare part, spare-part surgery, sparerib, spareribs

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use spare in a sentence

The problem doesn’t spare any of the major platforms and also exists on TripAdvisor and Yelp, although they apparently do a better job of cleaning up fake reviews.
Apple Ratings is coming to iOS 14, how disruptive will it be?|Greg Sterling|September 1, 2020|Search Engine Land
Find a quiet space to record — whether it’s a closet or a spare bedroom — in order to improve the audio quality.
Top five tips to use Twitter’s new Voice Tweets feature|David Ciccarelli|August 25, 2020|Search Engine Watch
One camp is convinced that the no-expense-spared fight against Covid-19 has put developed economies on course for rising prices on a scale they haven’t seen in decades.
After $20 trillion in pandemic relief spending, there’s still no sign of inflation. What happened?|Bernhard Warner|August 25, 2020|Fortune
It could also be that lower-income households have less spare time to spend wrangling for a refund.
What to do if you lost money on an event canceled because of COVID-19|Rachel King|August 19, 2020|Fortune

So in his spare time, he worked for John Shaw Billings, head of the census office’s Division of Vital Statistics.
Punching in|Tate Ryan-Mosley|August 19, 2020|MIT Technology Review
If the idea of a religious vigilante ambushing sex workers in his spare time sets off alarm bells, it probably should.
To Catch a Sex Worker: A&E’s Awful, Exploitative Ambush Show|Samantha Allen|December 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The group encompasses Byrne's art-rock solitariness and the dissociation effects in the spare—somewhat Godardian—staging.
The Stacks: Pauline Kael's Talking Heads Obsession|Pauline Kael|November 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We met on the third floor of a shabby building in Asadabad in an impossibly spare room that we dragged cushions into.
Heart of Darkness: Into Afghanistan’s Taliban Valley|Matt Trevithick, Daniel Seckman|November 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us.
Lincoln Was the Founders’ Heir Apparent|Harvey J. Kaye|October 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He chose a corner spare room with good ventilation, and put aside a spare set of sheets and silverware, just in case.
Apocalypse Now: Preppers Are Gearing Up for Ebola|Nina Strochlic|October 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
There seems something in that also which I could spare only very reluctantly from a new Bible in the world.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation|H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
He threw himself on his knees, begging us, in the name of God and all the saints, to spare his life.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
Harry took his bed into the spare-room, and Black Sheep lay down to die.
Kipling Stories and Poems Every Child Should Know, Book II|Rudyard Kipling
You may rest assured that I will spare no time or attention to promote the performance of this engine.
Life of Richard Trevithick, Volume II (of 2)|Francis Trevithick
I assure you that it is as I say—neither at the post-house nor at any of the inns I visited could I find me a spare horse.
St. Martin's Summer|Rafael Sabatini

British Dictionary definitions for spare

spare

/ (spɛə) /

verb

(tr) to refrain from killing, punishing, harming, or injuring

(tr) to release or relieve, as from pain, suffering, etc

(tr) to refrain from usingspare the rod, spoil the child

(tr) to be able to afford or giveI can't spare the time

(usually passive) (esp of Providence) to allow to surviveI'll see you again next year if we are spared

(intr) rare to act or live frugally

(intr) rare to show mercy

not spare oneself to exert oneself to the full

to spare more than is requiredtwo minutes to spare

adjective

(often immediately postpositive) in excess of what is needed; additionalare there any seats spare?

able to be used when neededa spare part

(of a person) thin and lean

scanty or meagre

(postpositive) British slang 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 madeCompare strike (def. 40)

Derived forms of spare

sparely, adverbspareness, nounsparer, noun

Word Origin for spare

Old English sparian to refrain from injuring; related to Old Norse spara, Old High German sparōn

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with spare

spare

In addition to the idioms beginning with spare

spare the rod and spoil the child
spare tire

also see:

to spare

spare

OTHER WORDS FOR spare

Origin of spare

synonym study for spare

OTHER WORDS FROM spare

Words nearby spare

Words related to spare

How to use spare in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for spare

Derived forms of spare

Word Origin for spare

Other Idioms and Phrases with spare