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

Even those who don’t have as much extra income to spare should contribute up to the employer match, if they have one.

From MarketWatch • May 8, 2026

She speculated that the older people were the ones who had the time to spare.

From Slate • May 4, 2026

Unified strike was dramatically averted with hours to spare on April 14 in a conflict that commanded local and national attention for weeks.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 29, 2026

It’s considered one of the biggest innovations in cardiovascular medicine, offering a way to spare patients the physical and emotional trauma of open heart surgery.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026

She’d be completely bewildered, and anyway, she’d never be able to change; I’d like to spare her that grief, especially since I know that everything would remain the same.

From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank