I. spare 1 S2 /speə $ sper/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: spær ]
1 . EXTRA spare key/battery/clothes etc a key etc that you keep in addition to the one you usually use, so that it is available if the one you usually use breaks, gets lost etc:
a spare key
Bring a towel and some spare clothes.
a supply of spare batteries
a spare tyre
2 . NOT USED/NEEDED [usually before noun] not being used or not needed at the present time:
Have you got any spare boxes?
You could sleep in the spare bedroom.
Do you have any spare cash?
I’ll go and see if there are any spare seats.
A decline in beer sales had left the industry with spare capacity (=the ability to produce more than can be sold) .
3 . TIME spare time/moment/hour etc time when you are not working:
What do you do in your spare time?
Eric spent every spare moment he had in the library.
4 . MONEY spare change coins of little value that you do not need and can give to other people:
There are beggars on every corner asking for spare change.
5 . be going spare British English spoken if something is going spare, it is available for you to have or use:
I’ll have some of that cake if it’s going spare.
6 . go spare British English informal to become very angry or worried:
Dad would go spare if he found out.
7 . PLAIN a spare style of writing, painting etc is plain or basic and uses nothing unnecessary
8 . THIN literary someone who is spare is tall and thin
II. spare 2 S3 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: sparian ]
1 . GIVE to make something such as time, money, or workers available for someone, especially when this is difficult for you to do:
Sorry, I can’t spare the time.
I’d like you to come over when you can spare a couple of hours.
Can you spare £5?
spare somebody/something to do something
We’re too busy to spare anyone to help you right now.
spare somebody ten minutes/an hour etc
Could you possibly spare me a few moments in private (=used to ask someone if they have time to quickly talk to you) ?
It’s very kind of you to spare me so much of your time.
2 . money/time etc to spare if you have money, time etc to spare, you have some left in addition to what you have used or need:
Anyone who has time to spare and would like to help can contact Moira.
with something to spare
They got to the airport with seconds to spare.
They still have some money to spare.
3 . spare somebody the trouble/difficulty/pain etc (of doing something) to prevent someone from having to experience something difficult or unpleasant:
I wanted to spare them the trouble of buying me a present.
Thankfully, she had been spared the ordeal of surgery.
4 . NOT DAMAGE OR HARM to not damage or harm someone or something, even though other people or things are being damaged, killed, or destroyed:
I could not understand why I had been spared and they had not.
the soldier who had spared his life
spare somebody/something from something
Today we will hear whether the school is to be spared from closure.
5 . spare a thought for somebody to think about another person who is in a worse situation than you are:
Spare a thought for Nick, who’s doing his exams right now.
6 . spare no expense/effort to spend as much money or do everything necessary to make something really good or successful
spare no expense/effort to do something
No expense was spared in developing the necessary technology.
No effort will be spared to bring the people responsible to justice.
7 . spare somebody (the details) to not tell someone all the details about something, because it is unpleasant or boring:
He spared us the details, saying only that he had been injured in the war.
‘They own three houses. One in the country, one in ...’ ‘Spare me.’
8 . spare sb’s feelings to avoid doing something that would upset someone:
Just tell me the truth. Don’t worry about sparing my feelings.
9 . spare a glance British English written to look quickly at someone or something
spare a glance at
Before leaving the old town, spare another glance at the tower.
spare somebody/something a glance
a bored waitress who scarcely spared them a glance
10 . spare sb’s blushes British English to avoid doing something that would embarrass someone
III. spare 3 BrE AmE noun
1 . [countable] an additional thing, for example a key, that you keep so that it is available:
If you forget the key, Mrs Jones over the road has a spare.
The batteries are dead. Have you got any spares?
2 . [countable] a ↑ spare tyre
3 . spares [plural] British English ↑ spare part s
motor/car/aircraft etc spares
a shortage of aircraft spares