- available to do what you want with rather than work
- He's studying music in his spare time.
- I haven't had a spare moment this morning.
- [usually before noun] that is not being used or is not needed at the present time
- We've got a spare bedroom, if you'd like to stay.
- I'm afraid I haven't got any spare cash.
- Are there any tickets going spare (= are there any available, not being used by somebody else)?
- [only before noun] kept in case you need to replace the one you usually use; extra
- a spare key/tyre
- Take some spare clothes in case you get wet.
- thin, and usually quite tall
time
not used/needed
extra
person
Word OriginOld English spær ‘not plentiful, meagre’, sparian ‘refrain from injuring’, ‘refrain from using’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch and German sparen ‘to spare’.
Idioms
See spare in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee spare in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishgo spare
- (British English, informal) to become very angry or upset
- Your mum would go spare if she knew!
- I’ll go spare if I don’t get out of the house soon!
Check pronunciation:
spare