sparer; sparest
Definition of spare
(Entry 1 of 3)
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
spare
verbspared; sparing
Definition of spare (Entry 2 of 3)
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 negativedon't spare the syrup
6a : 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
spare
nounDefinition of spare (Entry 3 of 3)
1a : 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
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Share spare
Time Traveler for spare
The first known use of spare was before the 12th century
See more words from the same century