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Synonyms

spare time

American  
[spair tahym] / ˈspɛər ˈtaɪm /

noun

  1. time that is free from the demands of work or other obligations; free time.

    To supplement his income from farming, Mike began making mechanical chicken pluckers in his spare time.

    In her spare time, my aunt does a lot of community volunteer work.

Etymology

Origin of spare time

First recorded in 1565–75

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

You’ve got enough on your plate that you can’t spare time to wait for a representative from their financial institution as you try to settle their affairs — and then hear that they can’t help you.

From MarketWatch

Those who flocked to Dawson Leery were the sort who spent their spare time at after-school club events and hamburger stands.

From Salon

And less than a third of young Scots say they enjoy reading in their spare time.

From BBC

They went off to discuss new wallpaper or whatever it was parents did in their spare time.

From Literature

She could let out a skirt in half the time it once took Pani Zuzana, which afforded her a fair amount of spare time between tasks to read.

From Literature

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.