How to Use spare in a Sentence

spare

1 of 3 adjective
  • He was tall and spare.
  • He has a spare frame.
  • I keep a spare set of keys in my desk.
  • I like her spare style of writing.
  • Prices for spare parts vary by item.
    — Jibin Joseph, PC Magazine, 15 June 2026
  • Their friends don’t have as many spare rooms.
    — James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, 13 Jan. 2026
  • Fits my phone and the spare battery.
    — Air Mail, 9 May 2026
  • Don’t keep spare keys in your purse either.
    — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 30 Dec. 2025
  • Pork spare ribs go low and slow for four and a half to seven.
    — Amy Drew Thompson, Orlando Sentinel, 6 Apr. 2023
  • There won’t be any spare cash to burn simply to drive growth.
    — Trevor Clawson, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025
  • Can a record be shiny and also kind of earthy and spare, in the whole?
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 3 Oct. 2025
  • In the spare room or at the dining room table.
    — Literary Hub, 23 Apr. 2026
  • On that note, anyone have a spare million or two?
    — Aj Willingham, AJC.com, 30 Apr. 2026
  • The trophy had been won with something spare.
    — Daniel Taylor, New York Times, 21 May 2026
  • Stone and earth tones evoke calm in the handsomely spare room.
    — Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, 2 Jan. 2026
  • Jumper cables, tire patches, and a spare ready to go.
    — Alana Al-Hatlani, Southern Living, 30 May 2026
  • This player, furthest away from the ball, was spare.
    — Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 6 Oct. 2025
  • Not a bad idea to also keep a spare toothbrush handy, just in case.
    — Abbey Hudetz, Travel + Leisure, 4 Jan. 2026
  • Stacks of his plates once filled every spare inch of this restaurant.
    — Bill Addison, Los Angeles Times, 12 Mar. 2026
  • Layers and spare footwear for wet sand and choppy surf come in clutch.
    — Madison Chapman, Outside, 17 Sep. 2025
  • Artemis isn’t reusable, but it’s built from many used and spare parts.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 29 Jan. 2026
  • The shaver comes with two spare stainless steel shaver blades and a cleaning brush.
    — Kate Oczypok, Better Homes & Gardens, 28 Aug. 2023
  • At the time, the tween was in need of spare parts to build a frequency counter.
    — Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 19 Dec. 2025
  • The guy who makes just-in-case, plan-B desserts has spare truffles.
    — Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 14 Oct. 2025
  • Today, those spare seats don't exist.
    — Christopher Elliott, Forbes.com, 21 May 2026
  • Just before our speeches and first dance, a friend ducked home and came back with a spare pair.
    — Ashlyn Robinette, PEOPLE, 23 Apr. 2026
  • But finding spare money is not a trivial task.
    — Nara Parameswaran, The Conversation, 30 Mar. 2026
  • Get rid of clutter in spare rooms, basements, and attics.
    — Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 2 Apr. 2026
  • Get rid of clutter in spare rooms, basements, and attics.
    — Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 11 Oct. 2025
  • If the power runs low, a spare battery can be slotted in for an extra boost.
    — Mark Sparrow, Forbes.com, 26 Aug. 2025

spare

2 of 3 verb
  • If you could spare a cup of sugar, it would save me a trip to the store.
  • I could have spared myself the trouble.
  • No one knows why the gunman shot some people and spared others.
  • He wanted to spare his family from the stress he had endured.
  • She was spared from having to answer any more questions.
  • Somehow the storm spared our house while nearby buildings were destroyed.
  • He spared them the embarrassment of a public apology.
  • Heat will not spare wealthy cities.
    — Ingmar Rentzhog, Forbes.com, 17 May 2026
  • And so we were spared the worst.
    — David Frum, The Atlantic, 8 Apr. 2026
  • Still have paid time off to spare?
    — Natalie B. Compton The Washington Post, Arkansas Online, 1 Feb. 2026
  • Acreage needs could have spared most homes.
    — CBS News, 27 Mar. 2026
  • The kick was good with room to spare.
    — Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 11 Sep. 2025
  • North Texas hasn’t been spared.
    — William Tong, Dallas Morning News, 20 Mar. 2026
  • Have a few more seconds to spare?
    — Mary Cornetta, Better Homes & Gardens, 21 Jan. 2026
  • The table seats six with room to spare.
    — Literary Hub, 11 June 2026
  • Have five minutes of your time to spare?
    — Brittney Melton, NPR, 13 Oct. 2025
  • No expense was spared on any of them.
    — Caroline Reid, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
  • Not even the livestock were spared.
    — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 29 Aug. 2025
  • Those units, for now, have been spared from the bulk of the cuts.
    — Meg James, Los Angeles Times, 14 Apr. 2026
  • This night light spares no features.
    — Julia Harrison, Architectural Digest, 18 Sep. 2025
  • Rick did say that workaholics would be spared.
    — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 18 Jan. 2026
  • Pages’ throw arrived with feet to spare.
    — Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 13 Sep. 2025
  • Older kids and young adults would not be spared.
    — Jamie Ducharme, The Atlantic, 17 Sep. 2025
  • High-end watches have not been spared.
    — ABC News, 14 Apr. 2026
  • Death would not spare us, either.
    — Will MacKin, New Yorker, 28 June 2026
  • Back, butt, legs—nothing’s spared.
    — Emilee Coblentz, Outside, 3 Mar. 2026
  • Allen swished a 3 with two seconds to spare.
    — Doug Haller, New York Times, 12 Jan. 2026
  • This is not a disease of the right that the left was spared from.
    — Joyce Kamanitz, Hartford Courant, 25 June 2026
  • So spare me the sorrys about the Chiefs.
    — Troy Renck, Denver Post, 24 Dec. 2025
  • Here’s a guide, plus tips for acting now to spare your own kids.
    — Kelly Phillips Erb, Forbes.com, 17 May 2026

spare

3 of 3 noun
  • He got a strike and two spares.
  • Most cars come with spares.
  • If that one breaks, I've got a spare.
  • Not a usual one and a spare, then, but two people’s—his and yours.
    — Robert McGill, The Atlantic, 23 July 2021
  • That could be as simple as keeping a spare in your car or purse.
    — Alex Orlando, Discover Magazine, 6 Dec. 2020
  • Right behind the beefy-looking rear-axle is a full-size spare.
    — Carlos Lago, Car and Driver, 11 May 2023
  • Good hustle for those who are flogging their spares and that, but p h e w.
    — SI.com, 27 Sep. 2019
  • Which is a good thing, because the spare is an off-roader’s best friend.
    — Tribune News Service, cleveland, 10 July 2021
  • Part of the front fender/bumper was missing and one of the tires was a spare.
    — Bob Sandrick, cleveland, 29 Sep. 2022
  • The gearbox that was removed will be rebuilt and kept as a spare.
    — Cicero Estrella, The Mercury News, 23 Sep. 2019
  • In the trunk, among the road flares and radio wiring harness, sits a fresh full-size spare.
    — Austin Irwin, Car and Driver, 29 Apr. 2022
  • Having a spare means a sharp blade on hand and ready to go at a moment's notice.
    — Roy Berendson, Popular Mechanics, 22 Jan. 2019
  • To get there, the city would need 21 vehicles, plus five spares.
    — oregonlive, 5 Feb. 2020
  • Many cars without spares come with kits to patch and reinflate a tire that’s low on air.
    — Jon Healey, Los Angeles Times, 18 Aug. 2023
  • And a person in need of a bike tire somehow reached a god who had a spare that was just the right size.
    — Leora Smith, Longreads, 10 Aug. 2020
  • My Ford dealer said that there was no mini spare made for my model.
    — Motormouth Bob Weber, Star Tribune, 9 Apr. 2021
  • Keeping a physical key, and a few spares, handy is always a good idea.
    — Cody Godwin, USA Today, 16 Nov. 2025
  • But the dress never leaked, and the spare disappeared from public view.
    — Danica Kirka, Chicago Tribune, 30 Nov. 2022
  • But that’s not necessarily the case, even though your run-flat car won’t have a spare.
    — Mike Allen, Popular Mechanics, 16 July 2010
  • An 18-inch spare was stored under the cargo area, along with changing tools.
    — Tribune News Service, cleveland, 11 Jan. 2020
  • That’s enough for three full air regiments of 24 fighters each, plus four spares.
    — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, 18 May 2019
  • But the Teluride actually climbed a trail like that—and made it out on a space-saver spare.
    — Ezra Dyer, Popular Mechanics, 7 May 2019
  • The first is the spare-button-and-matching-thread packet that comes with a new piece of clothing.
    — Lisa Scottoline, Philly.com, 28 June 2018
  • The one word title Spare is clearly a reference to the phrase an heir and a spare.
    — Kathleen Walsh, Glamour, 28 Oct. 2022
  • Keeping a spare in your carry-on is a small habit that can prevent a major bummer on your trip.
    — Samantha Leal, Travel + Leisure, 18 Apr. 2026
  • In the second game, Lillian had two spares on the way to a score that couldn’t have been more perfect.
    — Steve Lopezcolumnist, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2019
  • Hancock fills in so much of the spare script with her quiet control, her expressive face and eyes.
    — Mark Kennedy, chicagotribune.com, 12 Sep. 2019
  • Because the likelihood of needing a spare is low, buying a full-size tire and rim is not worth it.
    — Motormouth Bob Weber, Star Tribune, 9 Apr. 2021
  • But the 15th is a spare who will be dismissed before trial if not needed.
    — Paul Walsh, Star Tribune, 22 Mar. 2021
  • Probably requires at least splash resistant hands (or a whole bunch of spares).
    — IEEE Spectrum, 4 Nov. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'spare.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: