to spare
64
3.7
- phrasal verb
:
de sobra
- We got two hours to spare!
- time to spare
- money to spare
- little time to spare
Personally, I don't have a single one to spare.
- Personally, I don't have a single one to spare.
- If this is accurate, we will have one mile to spare.
- Hungry and cold, he turned to his neighbors for help, but they had only enough for themselves and nothing to spare.
- And so there's a bit of a conflicting desire there of like, yeah, I want, I want to learn this, but I, I don't have a whole lot of capacity to spare here.
Examples
-
And there might not have been anybody with money to spare for it, even if someone had wanted to.
Fiction book (1996) -
One can understand why these prime ministers had little time and energy to spare on domestic issues.
Academic text (2011) -
If I had good luck to spare, he could have some.
-
"I am not so old yet that you need to spare me," she said.
Fiction book (1992) -
And so I ask you to spare my life until I can bear my child.
Fiction book (1996) -
I'm glad you were able to spare the time.
-
The twins' father worked hard and had little time to spare for them.
Fiction book (1996) -
Actually got here with six minutes to spare, so that's good.
-
Well, do you have a half-hour to spare for an old friend?
-
I have some time to spare if you want to chat.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
More than is needed or expected
77
4.1
More than needed or wanted
1
3.4
More than what is needed or wanted
Antonyms
How Much
Surface Forms
Morphology
to + spare
The sense 'available in excess' is directly derivable from the verb/adjective spare (meaning extra, not needed, or to set aside) with the infinitival marker to; in phrases like 'time to spare' the meaning is simply 'extra time.' This compositional relation follows common patterns (infinitive postmodifying a noun to indicate availability or purpose) and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows the constituents.
Etymology
The phrase to spare may come from the simple idea of keeping something extra in reserve, like a spare wheel you carry in the car in case one breaks. So if you have money or minutes to spare, you have something 'left over' after you have what you need.