spare
Americanverb (used with object)
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to refrain from harming or destroying; leave uninjured; forbear to punish, hurt, or destroy.
to spare one's enemy.
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to deal gently or leniently with; show consideration for.
His harsh criticism spared no one.
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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.
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to refrain from, forbear, omit, or withhold, as action or speech.
Spare us the gory details.
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to refrain from employing, as some instrument or recourse.
to spare the rod.
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to set aside for a particular purpose.
to spare land for a garden.
- Synonyms:
- reserve
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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.
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to use economically or frugally; refrain from using up or wasting.
A walnut sundae, and don't spare the whipped cream!
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to have remaining as excess or surplus.
We can make the curtains and have a yard to spare.
verb (used without object)
-
to use economy; be frugal.
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to refrain from inflicting injury or punishment; exercise lenience or mercy.
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Obsolete. to refrain from action; forbear.
adjective
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kept in reserve, as for possible use.
a spare part.
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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
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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.
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verb
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(tr) to refrain from killing, punishing, harming, or injuring
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(tr) to release or relieve, as from pain, suffering, etc
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(tr) to refrain from using
spare the rod, spoil the child
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(tr) to be able to afford or give
I can't spare the time
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(usually passive) (esp of Providence) to allow to survive
I'll see you again next year if we are spared
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rare (intr) to act or live frugally
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rare (intr) to show mercy
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to exert oneself to the full
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more than is required
two minutes to spare
adjective
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(often immediately postpositive) in excess of what is needed; additional
are there any seats spare?
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able to be used when needed
a spare part
-
(of a person) thin and lean
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scanty or meagre
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slang (postpositive) upset, angry, or distracted (esp in the phrase go spare )
noun
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a duplicate kept as a replacement in case of damage or loss
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a spare tyre
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tenpin bowling
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the act of knocking down all the pins with the two bowls of a single frame
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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
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'Tis A Gift To Be Simple: Words For National Simplicity Day
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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:
Zemian, who had also been uncuffed, started digging through the SUV, collecting spare tactical vests, then propped them underneath the agent’s head.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
Lower oil futures would support that inventory-replenishment cycle and the need to rebuild spare capacity.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
How many businesses have the cash to spare?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Some of the eco-friendly schemes at the site include efficient heat pumps, solar panels and the collection of spare water from bathroom sinks and rainfall.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
They passed the side of the house, and the garage, above which Mr. Hardy had been fixing up a spare room.
From "The Missing Mitt (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #2)" 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
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
It spares the host from managing a revolving door of goodbyes, avoids disrupting the natural energy of the event and doesn’t encourage others to leave simply because they see you heading for the door.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026
She said the court should hand down a “narrow” decision that spares her client.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 2, 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
I am a kind old Christian, and no traitor to men’s blood, and no sparer of mine own in a friend’s jeopardy.
From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 8 (of 25) by Stevenson, Robert Louis
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
Camels are famously known as the ships of the desert, but even these hardy animals are not being spared from the extremes of rising temperatures in Africa.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Perez’s only request to the court was that Zambada be spared the fate of El Chapo, who is serving out his life sentence under strict isolation at a federal supermax prison in Colorado.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
Lore Van Moll, 33, a Belgian woman visiting her parents in nearby Alfaix, said she felt fortunate that she was unharmed and that her family’s home had been spared.
From Barron's ● Jul. 12, 2026
Despite its status as a worldwide cultural destination thanks to its high-class classical music and museums, Vienna has largely been spared the nuisance of mass tourism.
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
Several members of Washington’s staff, including Hamilton, pleaded that Andre’s life be spared because of his exceptional character.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
Cogan also said Zamabda deserved credit for sparing the government the difficulty and cost of going to trial.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026
In justifying the repeal of its former rule, the SEC argued that repeal made negotiating settlements easier and cheaper — thus, sparing the SEC’s scarce resources.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 17, 2026
It can be broken into hydrogen and oxygen to produce rocket fuel, sparing tomorrow’s explorers the need to carry enough for the trip home.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
Host Greg Davies also said he hoped Celia Imrie wasn't feeling too relaxed, not sparing her blushes as he reminded her of the moment when she accidentally farted during filming, a moment which went viral.
From BBC ● May 10, 2026
We dispatched staff to Angola, which was several hours away, to meet the men when they were released, sparing them the midnight bus trip.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
Definitions 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.
