time/money/room/thought, etc.时间、钱、房间、心思等
- to make something such as time or money available to somebody or for something, especially when it requires an effort for you to do this抽出;拨出;留出;匀出
- spare something/somebody I'd love to have a break, but I can't spare the time just now.我是想休息一下,可眼下找不出时间。
- spare something/somebody to do something Could you spare one of your staff to help us out?你能不能从你手下抽一个人过来帮帮我们?
- spare something/somebody for somebody/something We can only spare one room for you.我们只能给你腾出一个房间。
- You should spare a thought for (= think about) the person who cleans up after you.你应该为随后打扫的人着想啊。
- He was late, but he spared a glance for the pretty girl at the desk.他迟到了,但他瞥了一眼桌子旁的漂亮女孩。
- spare somebody something Surely you can spare me a few minutes?你应该能为我空出几分钟时间吧?
Extra Examples- Can you spare a second to give me a hand?你能否抽出点儿时间帮我一把?
- Can you spare some money for the homeless?你能否为无家可归的人出点儿钱呢?
- She hardly spared him a second glance.她几乎没有看他第二眼。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverbverb + spareprepositionphrasesSee full entry save somebody pain/trouble免得痛苦/麻烦
- to save somebody/yourself from having to go through an unpleasant experience省得;免去
- spare somebody/yourself something He wanted to spare his mother any anxiety.他不想让母亲有丝毫的担忧。
- Please spare me (= do not tell me) the gruesome details.那些让人毛骨悚然的细节就请你不要讲了。
- You could have spared yourself an unnecessary trip by phoning in advance.你要是先打个电话就用不着跑这一趟了。
- spare somebody/yourself from something She was spared from the ordeal of appearing in court.她无须出庭受折磨了。
not harm/damage不伤害;不损坏
- (formal) to allow somebody/something to escape harm, damage or death, especially when others do not escape it饶恕;赦免;放过;使逃脱
- spare somebody/something They killed the men but spared the children.他们杀死了大人,但放过了孩子。
- She begged them to spare her life.她求他们饶她一命。
- During the bombing only one house was spared (= was not hit by a bomb).在轰炸中,只有一座房子幸免。
- The storm largely spared Houston and surrounding districts.暴风雨基本未危害到休斯敦及其周边地区。
- spare somebody/something from something The children were spared from the virus.孩子们没被病毒感染。
- spare somebody/something sth Hong Kong was spared a direct hit, but the storm still brought heavy rains and powerful winds.香港虽然未遭正面吹袭,但风暴还是带来了大雨和强风。
Oxford Collocations DictionaryadverbprepositionSee full entry no effort/expense, etc.尽力、破费等
- spare no effort, expense, etc. to do everything possible to achieve something or to do something well without trying to limit the time or money involved不吝惜(时间、金钱)
- He spared no effort to make her happy again.为使她重新快乐起来,他想尽了办法。
- No expense was spared in furnishing the new office.装潢新办公室不惜工本。
work hard努力工作
- not spare yourself to work as hard as possible不遗余力
Word OriginOld English spær ‘not plentiful, meagre’, sparian ‘refrain from injuring’, ‘refrain from using’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch and German sparen ‘to spare’.
Idioms - (British English) to save somebody from an embarrassing situation不让某人难堪;免得某人丢面子
- A last minute goal spared their blushes.最后一分钟的进球让他们没有脸红。
spare somebody’s feelings
- to be careful not to do or say anything that might upset somebody不惹某人难受;避免触及某人的痛处
- I kept off the subject of divorce so as to spare her feelings.我避开离婚这个话题,以免触及她的感情。
- if you have time, money, etc. to spare, you have more than you need多余;富余
- I've got absolutely no money to spare this month.我这个月一点儿富余钱都没有。
- We arrived at the airport with five minutes to spare.我们赶到机场时还剩五分钟。
Extra Examples- We should get there with half an hour to spare.我们应该提前半个小时到那儿。
- Have you any money to spare?你还有余钱吗?