How to Use spare in a Sentence

spare

1 of 3 adjective

• He was tall and spare.
• He has a spare frame.
• I keep a spare set of keys in my desk.
• I like her spare style of writing.
• Pork spare ribs go low and slow for four and a half to seven.
  — Amy Drew Thompson, Orlando Sentinel, 6 Apr. 2023
• But here is the problem: The car comes with run-flat tires and no place for a spare or jack.
  — Ray Magliozzi, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Mar. 2023
• Buy a spare blade; keep it honed and swap blades often.
  — Roy Berendsohn, Popular Mechanics, 28 Feb. 2023
• The shaver comes with two spare stainless steel shaver blades and a cleaning brush.
  — Kate Oczypok, Better Homes & Gardens, 28 Aug. 2023
• Milwaukee didn’t cave in to the Phoenix Suns’ trade demands and held the line with their offer of spare parts.
  — Brian Sampson, Forbes, 10 Feb. 2023
• The board meeting draws nearer by the second, and still Hugo finds a spare moment to pull Kendall aside in a plea for help.
  — Lauren Puckett-Pope, ELLE, 17 Apr. 2023
• Surely there must be someone out there who would like to be in the playoffs with the Rams and make a little spare cash.
  — Los Angeles Times, 6 Jan. 2024
• Never leave any keys in the car or ignition — that includes a spare key.
  — Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 26 Sep. 2023
• One reason might be due to a lack of spare parts and maintenance equipment.
  — Sascha Brodsky, Popular Mechanics, 15 Feb. 2023
• At the same time, the Ukraine war caused delays in the supply of spare parts from Russia as well as payment issues.
  — Karishma Mehrotra, Washington Post, 20 June 2023
• Beyond giving each man an AK-47 and some spare magazines, the army had run out of gear.
  — Samanth Subramanian, WIRED, 5 Oct. 2023
• In keeping with the simple spirit of the place, the interiors of the Windy Gates farmhouse are spare.
  — Kate Betts, ELLE Decor, 13 Apr. 2023
• Some analysts warn a downturn is still in the cards as households run low on spare cash.
  — Alex Tanzi, Fortune, 25 Sep. 2023
• Americans in their 20s and 30s nowadays have a lot of spare parental love in their hearts — and their dogs are lapping it up.
  — Sam Apple, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2024
• Meanwhile, for some years now the show’s organizers have been putting their spare space to good use.
  — Alex Kwanten, Forbes, 28 Mar. 2024
• This bag still has six liters of capacity, which is enough for snacks, a tool kit, and a spare layer.
  — Maggie Slepian, Travel + Leisure, 5 Jan. 2024
• That means the grocery stores are closed and the people are out protesting, forcing Paulette to get creative about where to find a spare bird.
  — Peter Debruge, Variety, 3 Aug. 2023
• The Italians have supplied Tunisian patrols with boats, engines and spare parts.
  — Stefano Pitrelli, Washington Post, 26 July 2023
• It will be offered with spare parts and a clean California title in the celeb’s name.
  — Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 22 June 2023
• The over-reliance on cliché in an already spare screenplay doesn’t help either.
  — Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Mar. 2024
• But for pure barbecue magic, my money is on the St. Louis spare ribs.
  — Nick Kindelsperger, Chicago Tribune, 10 Apr. 2023
• What has led Hirayama, a man of obvious culture and smarts, to such a spare life?
  — Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 6 Feb. 2024
• Keep the spare and the regular passport in separate places.
  — Christopher Elliott, USA TODAY, 14 Apr. 2023
• The spare bathroom had no problems, but the downstairs one gurgled and was running slow, but no backup.
  — Janet B. Carson, Arkansas Online, 19 Aug. 2023
• More than a minute into the track, Iyer enters, studding spare piano notes into the fabric of the track.
  — Brenna Ehrlich, Rolling Stone, 22 Mar. 2023
• During the week there is always my laptop, snacks, a scarf, lipstick and often a spare pair of dress shoes for going out.
  — Sarah Rose, wsj.com, 27 Sep. 2023

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spare

2 of 3 verb

• If you could spare a cup of sugar, it would save me a trip to the store.
• I could have spared myself the trouble.
• No one knows why the gunman shot some people and spared others.
• He wanted to spare his family from the stress he had endured.
• She was spared from having to answer any more questions.
• Somehow the storm spared our house while nearby buildings were destroyed.
• He spared them the embarrassment of a public apology.
• There was no way of telling who would get it and who would be spared.
  — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 5 Mar. 2024
• Few parts of the state were spared, but the valleys were hardest hit.
  — Sue Halpern, The New Yorker, 12 July 2023
• The area around the mouth is often spared and appears pale.
  — Parents Editors, Parents, 6 June 2023
• Only Kyiv and the northwest of the country were spared.
  — Andrew Carey, CNN, 22 Mar. 2024
• The poorest people on Earth don’t have decades to spare.
  — Jem Aswad, Variety, 24 Sep. 2023
• More than half of those who had days to spare had to forfeit them, the survey found.
  — Alexa Mikhail, Fortune Well, 13 Dec. 2023
• Great, Luke defeats Darth Vader and doesn’t turn to the dark side of the Force by sparing him.
  — Brian Lowry, CNN, 27 Apr. 2023
• Offer a large tasting pour or even a full glass if there is enough to spare.
  — Mike Desimone and Jeff Jenssen, Robb Report, 10 Mar. 2024
• The Bay Area will be spared much of the fury from the storm, a cold low-pressure system moving in from the Gulf of Alaska.
  — Paul Rogers, The Mercury News, 27 Feb. 2024
• With the New Orleans Saints coming to town Thursday night, there’s no time to spare.
  — Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times, 18 Dec. 2023
• Prince Harry’s book is a yawp of grief for the dead which spares little mercy for the living.
  — Rachel Syme, The New Yorker, 14 Nov. 2023
• His house had been spared a direct hit, but all the windows were broken.
  — Raja Shehadeh, The New Yorker, 26 Oct. 2023
• If the apocalypse comes, no one will be spared its effects.
  — Dave Schilling, Los Angeles Times, 17 Nov. 2023
• The trial comes after a judge threw out a plea deal last fall that would have spared Hussain prison time.
  — CBS News, 16 May 2023
• The laudable goal is to spare patients from the worst side effects of cancer treatments.
  — E. Anders Kolb, STAT, 4 Dec. 2023
• The way Almodóvar has it, the only reason for Jake to spare the kid is as a favor to his old flame.
  — Peter Debruge, Variety, 17 May 2023
• The solar eclipse has come and gone in Arizona, with glasses and solar viewers to spare.
  — The Arizona Republic, 8 Apr. 2024
• Even in a kitchen with only a few inches to spare, the couple has cooked enviable meals.
  — Jess Eng, New York Times, 12 Sep. 2023
• Weiss’ probe ended last month with a plea deal that will likely spare Biden from time behind bars.
  — Farnoush Amiri, Anchorage Daily News, 25 July 2023
• Yet this sequence — like the rest of the film — is played maddeningly straight, sparing us any jokes or jumps.
  — Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 28 Oct. 2023
• Fortunately, the Ioniq 6 still has style to spare, even on 18s.
  — Dan Edmunds, Car and Driver, 13 May 2023
• And then the train passes over them, leaving only like a centimeter to spare.
  — Quanta Magazine, 15 Feb. 2024
• No topping spared Puerto Rico is rich with carts selling hot dogs adorned in the Boricua style.
  — J. J. Goode, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2023

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spare

3 of 3 noun

• He got a strike and two spares.
• Most cars come with spares.
• If that one breaks, I've got a spare.
• Speaking of wheels, the spare at the rear has been removed.
  — Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 13 June 2021
• Part of the front fender/bumper was missing and one of the tires was a spare.
  — Bob Sandrick, cleveland, 29 Sep. 2022
• Not a usual one and a spare, then, but two people’s—his and yours.
  — Robert McGill, The Atlantic, 23 July 2021
• And, like the 35s, trucks with the larger 37s get a full-size spare slung under the cargo bed.
  — Mike Sutton, Car and Driver, 31 Aug. 2021
• In the trunk, among the road flares and radio wiring harness, sits a fresh full-size spare.
  — Austin Irwin, Car and Driver, 29 Apr. 2022
• But a spare cutting board or sheet pan works just as well.
  — Aliza Abarbanel, Bon Appétit, 24 Apr. 2020
• To get there, the city would need 21 vehicles, plus five spares.
  — oregonlive, 5 Feb. 2020
• And a person in need of a bike tire somehow reached a god who had a spare that was just the right size.
  — Leora Smith, Longreads, 10 Aug. 2020
• Which is a good thing, because the spare is an off-roader’s best friend.
  — Tribune News Service, cleveland, 10 July 2021
• Right behind the beefy-looking rear-axle is a full-size spare.
  — Carlos Lago, Car and Driver, 11 May 2023
• In the second game, Lillian had two spares on the way to a score that couldn’t have been more perfect.
  — Steve Lopezcolumnist, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2019
• The gearbox that was removed will be rebuilt and kept as a spare.
  — Cicero Estrella, The Mercury News, 23 Sep. 2019
• The one word title Spare is clearly a reference to the phrase an heir and a spare.
  — Kathleen Walsh, Glamour, 28 Oct. 2022
• But everyone needs a spare just in case the worst happens.
  — The Editors, Field & Stream, 3 Apr. 2020
• The first is the spare-button-and-matching-thread packet that comes with a new piece of clothing.
  — Lisa Scottoline, Philly.com, 28 June 2018
• Having a spare means a sharp blade on hand and ready to go at a moment's notice.
  — Roy Berendson, Popular Mechanics, 22 Jan. 2019
• But the Teluride actually climbed a trail like that—and made it out on a space-saver spare.
  — Ezra Dyer, Popular Mechanics, 7 May 2019
• That could be as simple as keeping a spare in your car or purse.
  — Alex Orlando, Discover Magazine, 6 Dec. 2020
• But the dress never leaked, and the spare disappeared from public view.
  — Danica Kirka, Chicago Tribune, 30 Nov. 2022
• The Xbox comes with only one controller in the box, so get a spare for Player 2 ahead of the holidays.
  — Medea Giordano, WIRED, 27 Nov. 2022
• Many cars without spares come with kits to patch and reinflate a tire that’s low on air.
  — Jon Healey, Los Angeles Times, 18 Aug. 2023
• Good hustle for those who are flogging their spares and that, but p h e w.
  — SI.com, 27 Sep. 2019
• But the 1936 Games aren't remembered for Germany's medals or the spare-no-expense Nazi pageantry.
  — Mark Inabinett | [e-mail], al, 27 Nov. 2019
• All-terrain tires are part of the TrailSport package and include a full-size spare.
  — Marc Urbano, Car and Driver, 29 May 2023
• Johnson then suggests the two spare for reals with gear.
  — Anthony Robledo, USA TODAY, 20 July 2022
• An 18-inch spare was stored under the cargo area, along with changing tools.
  — Tribune News Service, cleveland, 11 Jan. 2020
• This means rolling the vehicle to a safe place, applying the handbrake and getting your spare from the boot.
  — Lauren Farrell, Chicago Tribune, 1 Aug. 2023

Last Updated: 7 May 2024