spare

1 of 3

adjective

ˈsper 

sparer; sparest

1

: not being used

especially : held for emergency use

a spare tire

2

: being over and above what is needed : superfluous

spare time

3

: not liberal or profuse : sparing

a spare prose style

4

: healthily lean

5

: not abundant or plentiful

sparely adverb

spareness noun

spare

2 of 3

verb

spared; sparing

transitive verb

1

: to forbear to destroy, punish, or harm

2

: to refrain from attacking or reprimanding with necessary or salutary severity

3

: to relieve of the necessity of doing or undergoing something

spare yourself the trouble

4

: to refrain from : avoid

spared no expense

5

: to use or dispense frugally

—used chiefly in the negative

don't spare the syrup

6

a

: to give up as not strictly needed

do you have any cash to spare

b

: to have left over or as margin

time to spare

intransitive verb

1

: to be frugal

2

: to refrain from doing harm

spareable

ˈsper-ə-bəl 

adjective

sparer noun

spare

3 of 3

noun

1

a

: a spare tire

b

: a duplicate (such as a key or a machine part) kept in reserve

2

: the knocking down of all 10 pins with the first 2 balls in a frame in bowling

Synonyms

Adjective

• extra
• surplus
• excess

Verb

• scant
• conserve
• preserve

Noun

• extra
• backup
• substitute
• reserve
• replacement

Choose the Right Synonym for spare

lean, spare, lank, lanky, gaunt, rawboned, scrawny, skinny mean thin because of an absence of excess flesh.

lean stresses lack of fat and of curving contours.

a lean racehorse

spare suggests leanness from abstemious living or constant exercise.

the gymnast's spare figure

lank implies tallness as well as leanness.

the lank legs of the heron

lanky suggests awkwardness and loose-jointedness as well as thinness.

a lanky youth, all arms and legs

gaunt implies marked thinness or emaciation as from overwork or suffering.

a prisoner's gaunt face

rawboned suggests a large ungainly build without implying undernourishment.

a rawboned farmer

scrawny and skinny imply an extreme leanness that suggests deficient strength and vitality.

a scrawny chicken

skinny street urchins

meager, scanty, scant, skimpy, spare, sparse mean falling short of what is normal, necessary, or desirable.

meager implies the absence of elements, qualities, or numbers necessary to a thing's richness, substance, or potency.

a meager portion of meat

scanty stresses insufficiency in amount, quantity, or extent.

supplies too scanty to last the winter

scant suggests a falling short of what is desired or desirable rather than of what is essential.

in January the daylight hours are scant

skimpy usually suggests niggardliness or penury as the cause of the deficiency.

tacky housing developments on skimpy lots

spare may suggest a slight falling short of adequacy or merely an absence of superfluity.

a spare, concise style of writing

sparse implies a thin scattering of units.

a sparse population

Examples of spare in a Sentence

Adjective

a spare pair of gloves

I keep a spare set of keys in my desk.

He has a spare frame.

He was tall and spare.

I like her spare style of writing.

Verb

No one knows why the gunman shot some people and spared others.

Somehow the storm spared our house while nearby buildings were destroyed.

She was spared from having to answer any more questions.

He wanted to spare his family from the stress he had endured.

I could have spared myself the trouble.

He spared them the embarrassment of a public apology.

If you could spare a cup of sugar, it would save me a trip to the store.

Noun

“I've lost the key.” “You'll find a spare in the drawer.”

If that one breaks, I've got a spare.

Most cars come with spares.

He got a strike and two spares.

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

Everyone’s here to make one another better, to share tidbits of information, spare knowledge, and that’s the coolest part for me. —Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 27 June 2025

More than a third of the FAA’s 138 ATC systems can no longer be reliably maintained, due to shortages of spare parts and funding, and another 39% were at risk of deteriorating beyond repair, the Government Accountability Office reported last year. —Jeremy Bogaisky, Forbes.com, 26 June 2025

Verb

Kincaid may seem ruthless, but Koepp gives him a more sympathetic backstory, suggesting that the grieving mercenary recently lost a child and may sacrifice himself in order to spare another, if given such a chance. —Peter Debruge, Variety, 30 June 2025

The top of Mount Mansfield has been spared from the development happening in the world below over the past 30 years. —Madeline Bodin, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 June 2025

Noun

Neither of these processes is perfect, and so sometimes an atom gets lost and needs to be replaced with one from a reservoir of spares. —ArsTechnica, 20 June 2025

Shown here are four mission spares, including Marie Curie [foreground]. —IEEE Spectrum, 31 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English, from Old English spær sparing, scant; akin to Old High German spar spare

Verb

Middle English, from Old English sparian; akin to Old High German sparōn to spare, Old English spær, adjective, scant

First Known Use

Adjective

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun

1907, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing spare

• free/spare time
• going spare
• go spare
• have (something) to spare
• spare a thought for
• spare change
• spare no effort
• spare no expense
• spare someone's blushes
• spare someone's feelings
• spare someone's life
• spare (someone) the details
• spare the blushes of (someone)
• spare time
• spare tire
• with (something) to spare

Rhymes for spare

• air
• ayre
• bahr
• bare
• blare
• care
• chair
• claire
• ere
• err
• eyre
• fair

Kids Definition

spare

1 of 3 verb

ˈspa(ə)r 

ˈspe(ə)r

spared; sparing

1

: to keep from being punished or harmed : show mercy

spared the prisoners

2

: to free of the need to do something

spare yourself the trouble

3

: to hold off from doing or spending

spare no cost

4

: to use or give out in small amounts

more pancakes, please, and don't spare the syrup

5

a

: to give up as not really needed

can you spare me a few minutes

couldn't spare a dime

b

: to have left over

got there with time to spare

spare

2 of 3 adjective

sparer; sparest

1

: held in reserve

a spare tire

2

: being over what is needed

spare time

3

: not generous or wasteful : sparing

4

: somewhat thin

5

: not abundant or plentiful : scanty

sparely adverb

spareness noun

spare

3 of 3 noun

1

: a spare or duplicate piece or part

2

: the knocking down of all 10 bowling pins with the first two balls in a frame in bowling

Etymology

Verb

Old English sparian "to refrain from harming"

Adjective

Middle English spare "being extra or more than is needed"