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spare

[spair] / spɛər /






Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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Every bit helps, but here’s not a lot of spare refining capacity with refineries in Russia and in the Middle East offline.

From MarketWatch Sep. 17, 2026

Iran imports industrial machinery, electronics and automotive spare parts from China.

From The Wall Street Journal Sep. 17, 2026

Were my parents trying to spare me, as a young child, from learning about human atrocity, or was the Holocaust, and the damage it had done to our family, too difficult for them to confront?

From Slate Sep. 11, 2026

UC Berkeley “will spare no effort to provide ample evidence showing that the university complies with all relevant laws, policies and rules governing admissions.”

From Los Angeles Times Sep. 9, 2026

It was Simon who taught Alexander how to use the sextant and had even sent him his spare one as a gift.

From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood

Airlines are forced to fly older planes for longer and need to keep buying spares.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 10, 2026

Incredibolt, trained by Riley Mott, at least spares the Preakness from not having a single graded-stakes winner in a two-turn race.

From Los Angeles Times May 11, 2026

The pope will arrive by helicopter, a diplomatic subtlety that spares him from landing on French soil without actually visiting France.

From Barron's Mar. 25, 2026

The move spares the concerts-and-ticketing giant from the threat of its business being broken up.

From The Wall Street Journal Mar. 9, 2026

“If god spares Beth, I’ll try to love and serve Him all my life,” answered Jo, with equal fervor.

From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott

Some, I’ve looked at them, and I saw that I want to put more things on the front too,” he continues, looking specifically at one of the sparer pieces near the front of the gallery.

From Los Angeles Times Apr. 11, 2025

Both Churchill and Zelenskyy inspired with their rhetoric, though Churchill’s words were more grandiose, while the Ukrainian leader’s message is sparer and more direct.

From Seattle Times Dec. 23, 2022

And her life of Penelope Fitzgerald is shorter and sparer than the others — like Fitzgerald, who was elusive and a little mysterious, a great writer of concealment.

From New York Times Feb. 13, 2021

The collection and staging were sparer and less eccentric than his usual fare.

From Washington Times Sep. 22, 2019

I am a kind old Christian, and no traitor to men’s blood, and no sparer of mine own in a friend’s jeopardy. 

From The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson

It is not the city’s fanciest, or its sparest.

From New York Times May 28, 2022

He’s known to demand only the sparest detail in his briefings, and his workdays frequently include hours watching cable news and posting on Twitter.

From Seattle Times Jul. 1, 2020

Here’s Berlin’s great gift — or, one of them: the power to spark life on the page using the sparest of words.

From Los Angeles Times Nov. 9, 2018

Inside each is only the sparest of personal belongings: pots, plates and cups, a bag or two of clothes and a plastic mat to sleep on.

From Washington Times Sep. 25, 2017

They understood each other, using the sparest words.

From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Johnson was spared by a single vote in the Senate.

From Slate Sep. 16, 2026

The war, now well into its fifth year, has not spared Ukraine's wine industry, located in the west like Zakarpattia but also in the east or in the south around Odesa.

From Barron's Sep. 15, 2026

A critically endangered roloway monkey has given birth only months after a pioneering operation spared her from having her foot amputated.

From Science Daily Sep. 8, 2026

Molchanova said the legal process was grueling, including sharing her private medical history, but she said she feels good knowing it may have spared other victims.

From The Wall Street Journal Sep. 5, 2026

“The boat was tossed around for hours by the storm. I couldn’t see anything, even the ship. In a way I’m glad I was spared the sight of it breaking up, and the debris, and...”

From "The Boy Who Met a Whale" by Nizrana Farook

More than 90 percent of excess heat trapped by greenhouse gas emissions has been absorbed by the oceans, sparing land from warming but at severe cost to marine life, reefs and coastal communities.

From Barron's Sep. 10, 2026

The magistrate called the incident "a single act of stupidity or frustration" when sparing him a criminal record.

From BBC Aug. 19, 2026

With your home in Illinois paid off and a cash purchase in Florida, you’re largely sparing your monthly budget, but not completely.

From MarketWatch Aug. 19, 2026

Cogan also said Zamabda deserved credit for sparing the government the difficulty and cost of going to trial.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 20, 2026

This new information led the prosecutor to drop the charges, sparing Ms. Lee a capital trial and, potentially, the death penalty.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson




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