Dictionary.com

spare tire

SEE SYNONYMS FOR spare tire ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a tire used or kept available as an emergency replacement on a vehicle.
Informal. excess fat around the waistline.

QUIZZES

BEAT THE DOLDRUMS WITH THIS WORD OF THE DAY QUIZ!

We know you’ll tackle this quiz totis viribus! See how many words from the week of Oct 12–18, 2020 you get right!
Question 1 of 7
What does “Indigenous” mean?
characterized by cleverness or originality of invention or construction.
carried on abroad, or with other countries.
relating to or being a people who are the original, earliest known inhabitants of a region, or are their descendants.
TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of spare tire

First recorded in 1920–25

Words nearby spare tire

spare part, spare-part surgery, sparerib, spareribs, spare the rod and spoil the child, spare tire, spare tyre, sparganoma, sparganosis, sparge, sparid
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to spare tire

bay window, corporation, love handles, potbelly, breadbasket

Idioms and Phrases with spare tire

spare tire

Fat around one's middle, as in He's determined to lose ten pounds and that spare tire he's acquired. This expression transfers the term for an extra tire carried in cars in case of a flat tire to excess fat around the waist. [Colloquial; mid-1900s]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.