spare

be going spare (British & Australian)

if something is going spare, you can have it because no one else wants it. 'Do you want some more cheesecake?' 'Yes, if it's going spare.'

See also: going

be like a spare prick at a wedding (British, taboo, humorous)

to feel silly because you are present at an event but no one needs you and no one is talking to you. Everyone else there had come with their partners and I was left feeling like a spare prick at a wedding.

See also: like, prick, wedding

Don't spare the horses. (Australian, informal)

something that you say to someone in order to tell them to hurry. Go and buy some milk and don't spare the horses.

See also: don't, horse

go spare (British & Australian, informal)

to become very angry. She'd go spare if she found out he was spending all that money.

no expense is spared

if no expense is spared in arranging something, a lot of money is spent to make it extremely good. No expense was spared in making the guests feel comfortable.

See also: expense

no expense spared

no expense is spared - if no expense is spared in arranging something, a lot of money is spent to make it extremely good. It was only the best for his daughter's wedding, no expense spared.

See also: expense

save/spare someone's blushes (British & Australian)

to do something to prevent someone feeling embarrassed. Granger saved the team's blushes by scoring the only goal in the last five minutes of the game. The audience's blushes were spared because the censors had removed all the explicit sex scenes from the film.

See also: blush, save

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have something to spare

to have something available to use. I'm doing a survey and I wonder if you have five minutes to spare.

spare no effort to do something

to work as hard as possible to achieve something. Emergency services have spared no effort to help people whose homes were destroyed by the tornadoes.

spare no expense

spare no expense

to not consider the cost of something. The team spared no expense in hiring players last year.

spare no effort to do something

See also: expense