| English Dictionary |
SPARE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
Dictionary entry overview: What does spare mean?
• SPARE (noun)
The noun SPARE has 3 senses:
1. an extra component of a machine or other apparatus
2. an extra car wheel and tire for a four-wheel vehicle
3. a score in tenpins; knocking down all ten after rolling two balls
Familiarity information: SPARE used as a noun is uncommon.
• SPARE (adjective)
The adjective SPARE has 6 senses:
1. thin and fit
2. more than is needed, desired, or required
3. not taken up by scheduled activities
4. kept in reserve especially for emergency use
5. lacking in magnitude or quantity
6. lacking embellishment or ornamentation
Familiarity information: SPARE used as an adjective is common.
• SPARE (verb)
The verb SPARE has 4 senses:
1. refrain from harming
2. save or relieve from an experience or action
3. give up what is not strictly needed
4. use frugally or carefully
Familiarity information: SPARE used as a verb is uncommon.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
An extra component of a machine or other apparatus
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Synonyms:
spare; spare part
Hypernyms ("spare" is a kind of...):
component; constituent; element (an artifact that is one of the individual parts of which a composite entity is made up; especially a part that can be separated from or attached to a system)
Sense 2
Meaning:
An extra car wheel and tire for a four-wheel vehicle
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Synonyms:
fifth wheel; spare
Hypernyms ("spare" is a kind of...):
car wheel (a wheel that has a tire and rim and hubcap; used to propel the car)
Sense 3
Meaning:
A score in tenpins; knocking down all ten after rolling two balls
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("spare" is a kind of...):
score (the act of scoring in a game or sport)
| Declension: comparative and superlative |
Superlative: sparest
Sense 1
Meaning:
Thin and fit
Synonyms:
spare; trim
Context example:
a body kept trim by exercise
Similar:
lean; thin (lacking excess flesh)
Derivation:
spareness (the property of being scanty or scattered; lacking denseness)
Sense 2
Meaning:
More than is needed, desired, or required
Synonyms:
excess; extra; redundant; spare; supererogatory; superfluous; supernumerary; surplus
Context example:
surplus cheese distributed to the needy
Similar:
unnecessary; unneeded (not necessary)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Not taken up by scheduled activities
Synonyms:
free; spare
Context example:
spare time on my hands
Similar:
unoccupied (not held or filled or in use)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Kept in reserve especially for emergency use
Context example:
spare parts
Similar:
unnecessary; unneeded (not necessary)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Lacking in magnitude or quantity
Synonyms:
Context example:
a spare diet
Similar:
meager; meagerly; meagre; scrimpy; stingy (deficient in amount or quality or extent)
Derivation:
spareness (the property of being scanty or scattered; lacking denseness)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Lacking embellishment or ornamentation
Synonyms:
bare; plain; spare; unembellished; unornamented
Context example:
functional architecture featuring stark unornamented concrete
Similar:
unadorned; undecorated (not decorated with something to increase its beauty or distinction)
| Conjugation: |
... he / she / it spares Past simple: spared
Past participle: spared
-ing form: sparing
Sense 1
Meaning:
Refrain from harming
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Synonyms:
save; spare
Hypernyms (to "spare" is one way to...):
forbear; refrain (resist doing something)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "spare"):
favor; favour (treat gently or carefully)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Sentence example:
They spare him from writing the letter
Derivation:
sparer (someone who refrains from injuring or destroying)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Save or relieve from an experience or action
Classified under:
Verbs of political and social activities and events
Context example:
I'll spare you from having to apologize formally
Hypernyms (to "spare" is one way to...):
exempt; free; relieve (grant relief or an exemption from a rule or requirement to)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s somebody something
Somebody ----s somebody PP
Sense 3
Meaning:
Give up what is not strictly needed
Classified under:
Verbs of buying, selling, owning
Synonyms:
dispense with; give up; part with; spare
Context example:
he asked if they could spare one of their horses to speed his journey
Hypernyms (to "spare" is one way to...):
give (transfer possession of something concrete or abstract to somebody)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Sense 4
Meaning:
Use frugally or carefully
Classified under:
Verbs of eating and drinking
Hypernyms (to "spare" is one way to...):
expend; use (use up, consume fully)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Context examples
Poor fellow! said Mr. Peggotty, shaking his head, theer's not so much left him, that he could spare the little as he has!
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
They have, for the first stages, two men to ride and lead their spare horses—four in all, so as not to excite curiosity.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
But, my dear, your father cannot spare the horses, I am sure.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
“What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare you for a few hours?”
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I would have spared her, perhaps, for all my madness, but she threw her arms round him, crying out to him, and calling him ‘Alec.’
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
I’d rather spare two from the pack, and have Godfrey for my three-quarter line.
(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
“Well, ma'am, what do you say to it? Can you spare me for an hour or two? Shall I go?”
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
I could very ill spare the time, and you might have saved me the trouble, if you would only have been so good as to let us know you were going out.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
"I should have thought," said Anne, "that my manner to yourself might have spared you much or all of this."
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
"If God spares Beth, I never will complain again," whispered Meg earnestly.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
| Learn English with... Proverbs |
"Slowly-slowly, even a file can turn a beam into a needle." (Albanian proverb)
"Movement is a blessing." (Arabic proverb)
"Keep throwing eggs on the wall." (Cypriot proverb)