1. Refrain from harming
   "The conquering army spared the lives of the civilians";
   - save
    
2. Give up what is not strictly needed
   "he asked if they could spare one of their horses to speed his journey";
   - give up, part with, dispense with
    
3. Use frugally or carefully
   "We need to spare our resources during the drought"
    
4. Save or relieve from an experience or action
   "I'll spare you from having to apologize formally"

1. More than is needed, desired, or required
   "sleeping in the spare room";
   - excess, extra, redundant, supererogatory, superfluous, supernumerary, surplus
    
2. Kept in reserve especially for emergency use
   "a spare tire"; "spare parts"
    
3. Not taken up by scheduled activities
   "spare time on my hands";
   - free
    
4. Lacking embellishment or ornamentation
   "The spare design of the room emphasized its clean lines";
   - plain, bare, unembellished, unornamented
    
5. Thin and fit
   "the spare figure of a marathon runner";
   - trim
    
6. Lacking in magnitude or quantity
   "a spare diet";
   - bare, scanty
    
7. [Brit, informal] Very angry
   "He became spare with rage when he discovered the deception";
   - hot under the collar [informal]

1. An extra component of a machine or other apparatus
   "He always carried spare parts for his bicycle in case of a breakdown";
   - spare part
    
2. An extra car wheel and tire for a four-wheel vehicle
   "He always kept a spare in his trunk in case of a flat tire";
   - fifth wheel
    
3. A score in tenpins; knocking down all ten after rolling two balls
   "He needed a spare in the final frame to win the bowling match"

Derived forms: spared, sparer, sparing, sparest, spares

See also: angry, cross, lean, meager [N. Amer], meagerly [N. Amer], meagre [Brit, Cdn], meagrely [Brit, Cdn], scrimpy, stingy [informal], thin, unadorned, undecorated, unnecessary, unneeded, unoccupied

Type of: car wheel, component, constituent, consume, deplete, eat, eat up, element, exempt, exhaust, expend, forbear, free, give, refrain, relieve, run through, score, use, use up, wipe out

Encyclopedia: Spare, Richard