"spare change" meaning in English

See spare change in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Head templates: {{en-noun|-}} spare change (uncountable)
  1. (colloquial) Synonym of small change (“coins in the pocket, ready to spend”). Tags: colloquial, uncountable Synonyms: small change [synonym, synonym-of]
    Sense id: en-spare_change-en-noun-27MY4sZ9 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 53 47 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 55 45 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 58 42
  2. (colloquial) Synonym of small change (“insignificant amount of money”). Tags: colloquial, uncountable Synonyms: small change [synonym, synonym-of]
    Sense id: en-spare_change-en-noun-WIo0DmKD Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 53 47 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 55 45
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: spange, spanger Related terms: and change
{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "51 49",
      "word": "spange"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "51 49",
      "word": "spanger"
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "spare change (uncountable)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "51 49",
      "word": "and change"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "53 47",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "55 45",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "58 42",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Got any spare change for a cup of coffee, guv?",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "I had a bit of cash on me, but no spare change.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Synonym of small change (“coins in the pocket, ready to spend”)."
      ],
      "id": "en-spare_change-en-noun-27MY4sZ9",
      "links": [
        [
          "small change",
          "small change#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(colloquial) Synonym of small change (“coins in the pocket, ready to spend”)."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "extra": "coins in the pocket, ready to spend",
          "tags": [
            "synonym",
            "synonym-of"
          ],
          "word": "small change"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "colloquial",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "53 47",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
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            "Entries with incorrect language header",
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        {
          "_dis": "55 45",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The cost of an opulent wedding is spare change to a millionaire.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Synonym of small change (“insignificant amount of money”)."
      ],
      "id": "en-spare_change-en-noun-WIo0DmKD",
      "links": [
        [
          "small change",
          "small change#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(colloquial) Synonym of small change (“insignificant amount of money”)."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "extra": "insignificant amount of money",
          "tags": [
            "synonym",
            "synonym-of"
          ],
          "word": "small change"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "colloquial",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "spare change"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "spange"
    },
    {
      "word": "spanger"
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "spare change (uncountable)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "and change"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English colloquialisms",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Got any spare change for a cup of coffee, guv?",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "I had a bit of cash on me, but no spare change.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Synonym of small change (“coins in the pocket, ready to spend”)."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "small change",
          "small change#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(colloquial) Synonym of small change (“coins in the pocket, ready to spend”)."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "extra": "coins in the pocket, ready to spend",
          "tags": [
            "synonym",
            "synonym-of"
          ],
          "word": "small change"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "colloquial",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English colloquialisms",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The cost of an opulent wedding is spare change to a millionaire.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Synonym of small change (“insignificant amount of money”)."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "small change",
          "small change#English"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(colloquial) Synonym of small change (“insignificant amount of money”)."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "extra": "insignificant amount of money",
          "tags": [
            "synonym",
            "synonym-of"
          ],
          "word": "small change"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "colloquial",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "spare change"
}

Download raw JSONL data for spare change meaning in English (1.7kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-03-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-03-21 using wiktextract (fef8596 and 633533e). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.