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spare

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verb [transitive] British English pronunciation: spare /speə(r)/ 
Word Forms
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present tense
I/you/we/theyspare
he/she/itspares
present participlesparing
past tensespared
past participlespared
Other entries for this word
  1. 1
    if you can spare something, you can give or lend it to someone because you don't need it

    Can you spare a couple of pounds?

    We can't spare the staff for training sessions.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of spare
  2. 2
    if you can spare time, you have it available

    Can you spare a couple of hours on Tuesday?

    We arrived at the airport with just 20 minutes to spare.

    spare someone something:

    It's kind of you to spare me a moment.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of spare
  3. 3
    to prevent someone from experiencing an unpleasant, painful, or embarrassing situation or feeling
    spare someone something:

    Thank God she had been spared the ordeal of surgery.

    spare someone the embarrassment/pain/trouble etc:

    At least spare him the humiliation of having to ask for money.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of spare
  4. 4
    formal to not harm, damage, or kill someone or something

    Luckily the floods spared this historic church.

    Civilians were not spared in the attack.

    spare someone's life:

    The commander was so impressed by their bravery that he spared their lives.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of spare

phrases

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This is the British English definition of spare. View American English definition of spare.

Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to American English.

View the pronunciation for spare.

 

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