Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
spare change

spare change

14 1.0
Small coins or money you do not need and carry with you
  • noun
  • /spɛr tʃeɪndʒ/
translation icon : cambio suelto
  • Say, mister, you got any spare change?
  • got some spare change
  • begging for spare change
  • asked for spare change

Acorns lets you get started with the spare money you've got right now, even if all you've got is spare change.

Examples

  • After buying coffee, I had some spare change left over.

  • I always keep a little spare change in my boot.

    A Night in Old Mexico (2013)

  • Excuse me, have you got any spare change? - You got any--? -

    Nil by Mouth (1997)

  • Have you got any spare change?

    The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997)

  • You got any spare change, old man?

    Harry and Tonto (1974)

  • "Got any spare change?" the woman was saying.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Look, I don't have any spare change.

    Naqoyqatsi (2002)

  • I approached him and asked him for spare change politely.

    15 Minutes (2001)

  • Judy saved up her spare change and bought a beautiful globe with Cinderella's castle on it.

    Blog text (4)

  • Her kitchen always smelled of baking then, and she made dresses for poor children and gave all her spare change to beggars.

    Fiction book (1996)

Synonyms

change
vsspare change
382 1.0

Small coins or the money you get back after paying

is more about leftover casual coins not formal payment returns
spending money
vsspare change
19 2.0

Money you keep to buy small things like coffee or snacks

is rather unplanned leftover coins casually carried
small change
vsspare change
10 2.3

A small amount of money in coins that is not worth much

is neutral leftover coins carried casually not necessarily unimportant
pocket change
vsspare change
8 2.5

A small amount of money, usually coins, kept for minor expenses

is instead leftover coins not set aside for spending
chump change
vsspare change
  • Informal
8 8.2

A very small amount of money that hardly matters next to bigger costs

is the neutral idea of leftover coins without insulting tone
loose change
vsspare change
8 3.1

Small coins people keep in pockets or jars

is instead money left over not necessarily neatly stored

How Much

fortune
453 2.8
savings
606 1.0
cash
∞ 1.0
spare change
14 1.0
loose change
8 3.1
nickel-and-dime
  • Informal
1 7.2

Surface Forms

spare change singular
spare changes plural

Morphology

spare + change

The meaning 'small coins left over' is directly and compositionally derivable from 'spare' (extra) + 'change' (coins). This adjective+noun combination follows a regular semantic pattern with clear cross-linguistic parallels, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will understand it.

Etymology

Spare change comes from the simple image of coins left over in a pocket or a jar. People often drop these coins for street performers or parking meters. So the phrase means 'small extra money' you carry and do not need for regular expenses, with spare meaning 'extra' and change meaning 'small coins'.