spare (redirected from sparing a thought for)

and something to spare and with something to spare

Fig. with extra left over; with more than is needed. I had as much flour as I needed with some to spare. Fred said he should have enough cash to last the week—with money to spare.

See also: and

enough and some to spare

Fig. plenty. Would you like some more pie? We've got enough and some to spare. Mary: Can I borrow a cup of milk? Tom: Don't worry about borrowing. Take it. I have enough and some to spare.

See also: and, enough, some

have something to spare

Fig. to have more than enough of something. Ask John for some firewood. He has firewood to spare. Do you have any candy to spare?

See also: have

in one's spare time

in one's extra time; in the time not reserved for work or doing something else. I write novels in my spare time. I'll try to paint the house in my spare time.

See also: time

not a moment to spare and without a moment to spare

just in time; with no extra time. Hurry, hurry! There's not a moment to spare! I arrived without a moment to spare.

See also: moment

spare someone something

to exempt someone from having to listen to or experience something. I'll spare you the details and get to the point. Please, spare me the story and tell me what you want.

spare the rod and spoil the child.

Prov. You should punish a child when he or she misbehaves, because if you do not, the child will grow up expecting everyone to indulge him or her. Jane: How can you allow your little boy to be so rude? Ellen: It distresses me to punish him. Jane: lean understand that, but spare the rod and spoil the child.

See also: and, child, rod, spoil

spare tire 

1. a thickness in the waist; a roll of fat around one's waist. I've got to get rid of this spare tire. The spare tire started when I was twenty-six.

2. an unneeded person; an unproductive person. Gary is a spare tire. Send him home. You spare tires over there! Get to work.

See also: tire

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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: horse

go spare  (British & Australian informal)

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

See save blushes

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 and hang the cost

See also: expense

save/spare somebody'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.

See also: have

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.

Related vocabulary: spare no expense

See also: effort

spare no expense

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

Related vocabulary: spare no effort to do something

See also: expense