Word.ws English Dictionary

spare

/spɛə(ɹ)//spɛɚ/

spare adjective: being more than what is necessary, or what must be used or reserved; not wanted, or not used; superfluous.

Adjective

spare (comparative sparer, superlative sparest)

  1. Being more than what is necessary, or what must be used or reserved; not wanted, or not used; superfluous.
    • I have no spare time.
    • if that no spare cloths he had to give1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 39
  2. Held in reserve, to be used in an emergency.
    • a spare anchor; a spare wheel or tyre
  3. Not occupied or in current use.
    • We could rent out the spare room.
    • Shepard: I take it this is your first time here?
      Wrex: Meant to tell you Shepard. Earth reminds me of home. Guess you'll be needing a new planet too. That's okay. Tuchanka's got room to spare and a guard dog named Kalros.2012, BioWare, Mass Effect 3, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Earth
  4. Scant; not abundant or plentiful.
    • a spare diet
    • Jones’ sad eyes betray a pervasive pain his purposefully spare dialogue only hints at, while the perfectly cast Brolin conveys hints of playfulness and warmth while staying true to the craggy stoicism at the character’s core.2012 May 24, Nathan Rabin, “Film: Reviews: Men In Black 3”, in The Onion AV Club
  5. Austere, stripped down, without what is extraneous.
    • I’m naked to the bone,
      With nakedness my shield.
      Myself is what I wear:
      I keep the spirit spare.1941, Theodore Roethke, “Open House”, in Open House, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →OCLC; republished in The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke, London: Faber and Faber […], 1968, →OCLC...
  6. Sparing; frugal; parsimonious; not spending much money.
    • He was spare, […]but discreet of speech.1609, Richard Carew, The Survey of Cornwall, London: […] S[imon] S[tafford] for Iohn Iaggard, […], →OCLC
    • Under Hartmut Warkuss, its design director until 2003, Volkswagen styling celebrated its Teutonic origins and the spare modernist tradition expressed in Braun radios and coffee makers, reference points for the neomodern simplicity of the iPod.2009 April 12, Phil Patton, “At VW, the Italian Accent Gets Stronger”, in New York Times
  7. Lean; lacking flesh; meager; thin; gaunt.
    • O, give me the spare men, and spare me the great ones.1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
  8. (UK, informal) Very angry; frustrated or distraught.
    • When he found out that someone had broken the window, he went spare.
    • The poor girl is going spare, stuck in the house all day with the kids like that.

Noun

spare (plural spares)

  1. The act of sparing; moderation; restraint.
    • men slaine, then without any spare at all they trampled over the dead carkasses1659, T[itus] Livius [i.e., Livy], “(please specify the book number)”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Romane Historie […], London: […] W. Hunt, for George Sawbridge, […], →OCLC
  2. Parsimony; frugal use.
    • Pourd out their plenty, without spight or spare:1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 51
  3. An opening in a petticoat or gown; a placket.
  4. That which has not been used or expended.
  5. (especially) A spare tire.
    • I stopped to help out. Do you have a spare? [Said by one motorist to another with a flat tire.]
  6. Any car part or comparable machine part in a supply chain.
    • People sometimes forget that world-class logistics also involve inventory management in warehouses full of spares.
  7. A superfluous or second-best person.
    • an heir and a spare
    • The whole Heir versus Spare thing? Wasn't it a bit late for that tired childhood dynamic?2023, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex; J. R. Moehringer, Spare, Penguin Random House, →ISBN
  8. The right of bowling again at a full set of pins, after having knocked all the pins down in less than three bowls. If all the pins are knocked down in one bowl it is a double spare; in two bowls, a single spare.
  9. The act of knocking down all remaining pins in second ball of a frame; this entitles the pins knocked down on the next ball to be added to the score for that frame.
  10. (Canada) A free period; a block of school during which one does not have a class.
    • I also remember watching David Letterman's short-lived morning show on TV when I had a spare during my school schedule.2010, Sandra Rinomato, Realty Check: Real Estate Secrets for First-Time Canadian Home Buyers
  11. (Myanmar) assistant or extra hand (typically on buses and lorries)

Verb

spare (third-person singular simple present spares, present participle sparing, simple past and past participle spared)

  1. (intransitive) To desist; to stop; to refrain.
  2. (intransitive) To refrain from inflicting harm; to use mercy or forbearance.
  3. (transitive) To preserve (someone) from danger or punishment; to forbear to punish, injure, or harm (someone); to show mercy towards.
    • For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 6:34
    • Cologne Hauptbahnhof is reached in the small hours, and the traveller new to postwar Germany is spared the sight of the devastated city.1949 September and October, “The "Nord Express"”, in Railway Magazine, page 336
  4. (specifically, transitive) To refrain from killing (someone) or having (someone) killed.
    • Kill me, if you please, or spare me.1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC
    • Reggie Clemons has one last chance to save his life. After 19 years on death row in Missouri for the murder of two young women, he has been granted a final opportunity to persuade a judge that he should be spared execution by lethal injection.2012 August 21, Ed Pilkington, “Death penalty on trial: should Reggie Clemons live or die?”, in The Guardian
  5. (intransitive) To be frugal; to not be profuse; to live frugally; to be parsimonious.
    • I, who at some times spend, at others spare, / Divided between carelessness and care.1737, Alexander Pope, The Second Epistle of the Second Book of Horace, Imitated by Mr. Pope
  6. (transitive) To keep to oneself; to forbear to impart or give.
    • Thou that day / Thy Father's dreadful thunder didst not spare1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
    • He that hath knowledge, spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 17:27
  7. (transitive) To save or gain, as by frugality; to reserve, as from some occupation, use, or duty.
    • All the time he could spare from the necessary cares of his weighty charge, from assaults, and the naturall refreshing of his body, be bestowed in praier and seruing of God1610, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes, from the First Beginning of that Nation, page 580
  8. (transitive) (to give up): To deprive oneself of, as by being frugal; to do without; to dispense with; to give up; to part with.
    • Where angry Jove did never spare / One breath of kind and temperate air.a. 1779, Earl of Roscommon, “The Twenty-second Ode of the First Book of Horace”
    • Poor Jack, farewell! / I could have better spared a better manc. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...

Proper noun capitalized: Spare

Spare (plural Spares)

  1. A surname transferred from the nickname.

spare meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

spare in Hindi

spare, surplus
फ़ाज़िल fāzil

spare in Tamil

உபரி, ஓய்வு

spare in Urdu

فالتو, کوتل, بچانا, چھوڑنا

spare in Bengali

অতিরিক্ত, অনাবশ্যক, অত্যল্প পরিমাণ, কৃশ, বিরত হওয়া, ক্ষমাপরায়ণ হওয়া
More languagesFewer languages
spare in Malayalam
പ്രത്യേകാവശ്യത്തിന് സൂക്ഷിക്കുന്ന, മിതത്വംപാലിക്കുന്ന, മോചിപ്പിക്കുക, വിട്ടുകളയുക
spare in Kannada
ಬಳಸದಿರು, ಕಡಿಮೆ ಬಳಸು, ಬಿಟ್ಟುಬಿಡು, ಉೞಿಪು
spare in Punjabi
بھنا bhannā
spare in Gujarati
ફાજલ
spare in Sanskrit
मृडति mṛḍati
spare in Nepali
स्पेयर
spare in Arabic
رَحِمَ raḥima
spare in Persian
اضافه ezâfe, زاپاس zâpâs, یدکی yadaki, یدک yadak

Examples of spare in a sentence

  • As the 1857 to Manchester Piccadilly rolls in, I scan the windows and realise there are plenty of spare seats, so I hop aboard.2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 68:
  • My grandfather (unaware that he was using antique terms) would often say ruefully that I would drive him spare.2013, David Ovason, The Zelator:
  • She proceeds to cuss him out, and he gives her a choice, telling her that if she apologizes now, he'll put in a good word for her with the O5 Council, which might spare her.2021 August 16, “Exploring the SCP Foundation: SCP-6002 - All Creatures Great and Small” (19:06 from the start), in The Exploring Series...
  • Then, thwarted, the wretched creature went to the police for help; she was versed in the law, and perhaps had spared no pains to keep on good terms with the local constabulary.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XLIV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page...

All 40 example sentences with spare

Forms of spare

Adjective
comparativesparer
superlativesparest
Noun
pluralspares
Verb
third-person singular presentspares
present participlesparing
past participlespared
pastspared
second-person singular present (archaic)sparest
second-person singular past (archaic)sparedst
third-person singular present (archaic)spareth
Proper noun
pluralSpares

Past tense of spare: spared

Plural of spare: spares

Origin of spare

From Middle English spare, spar, from Old English spær (“sparing, scant”), from Proto-Germanic *sparaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sph₁rós, from the root *speh₁-. Compare Dutch spaar(zaam), German spar(sam) and spär(lich), Swedish spar(sam), Icelandic sparr (“sparing”); also Latin (pro)sperus (“lucky”), Old Church Slavonic споръ (sporŭ, “plentiful”), Albanian shperr (“earn money”), Persian سپار (sepâr, “entrust; deposit”), Ancient Greek σπαρνός (sparnós, “rare”), Sanskrit स्फिर (sphirá, “thick”).

From Middle English sparen, sparien, from Old English sparian (“to spare, show mercy to, refrain from injuring or destroying”), from Proto-Germanic *sparōną, *sparāną (“to save, keep, spare”), from Proto-Indo-European *sper- (“to be productive, earn”). Cognate with Scots spar, spare, spair (“to spare”), West Frisian sparje (“to save, spare”), Dutch sparen (“to save, spare”), German sparen (“to save, conserve, economise”), Swedish spara (“to save, save up”), Icelandic spara (“to save, conserve”).

From spare, a nickname for a frugal person.

Words formed from spare

Phrases with spare

4 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with spare

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about spare

What does spare mean?
Spare means being more than what is necessary, or what must be used or reserved; not wanted, or not used; superfluous.
What is spare in Hindi?
Spare in Hindi is फ़ाज़िल (fāzil). See Spare meaning in Hindi.
How do you use spare in a sentence?
As the 1857 to Manchester Piccadilly rolls in, I scan the windows and realise there are plenty of spare seats, so I hop aboard.
What part of speech is spare?
Spare can be an adjective, a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce spare?
Spare is pronounced /spɛə(ɹ)/ (UK).

Words near spare in the dictionary

  1. sparble
  2. sparbled
  3. sparbles
  4. sparbling
  5. sparce
  6. spare
  7. spare a thought for
  8. spare ball
  9. spare balls
  10. spare change
  11. spare no effort

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: spare (page history and authors); Spare (page history and authors); फ़ाज़िल (Hindi) (page history and authors); spare (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); spare (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); spare (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); spare (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); spare (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); بھنا (Punjabi) (page history and authors); spare (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); spare (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “spare.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/spare. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.