to spare

Idioms  

1. In addition to what is needed, extra, left over, as in We paid our bills and still had money to spare. This expression uses spare in the sense of “leftover” or “unused,” a usage dating from the late 1500s.

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Example Sentences

His job is to scare away the pigeons searching for a tasty snack, and to stop them nesting in the roofs of the club buildings.

From Barron's • Jul. 1, 2026

He often sets off alarms, he said, to scare people from lounging on his property, which sits about 50 feet from a public beach.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 9, 2026

And so Sam it was, but an eagle that was more comical than menacing, so as not to scare the kiddies and customers — a happy raptor.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 6, 2026

"It means so much to me. We can be a mother and also shoot for these crazy big goals, more than ever. It's definitely not going to scare me away from any goals," she said.

From BBC • Apr. 21, 2026

But just the idea of them was enough to scare her.

From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi