SPARE TIRE Definition & Meaning

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spare tire

noun

a tire used or kept available as an emergency replacement on a vehicle.
Informal. excess fat around the waistline.

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of spare tire¹

First recorded in 1920–25

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Idioms and Phrases

Fat around one's middle, as in He's determined to lose ten pounds and that spare tire he's acquired . This expression transfers the term for an extra tire carried in cars in case of a flat tire to excess fat around the waist. [ Colloquial ; mid-1900s]

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

“It was fine because we had a spare tire.”

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In your car, you should have a kit with a first aid kit, a blanket, a change of clothes, cash to buy gas, a spare tire and emergency food and water.

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says in documents posted Thursday that water can accumulate in the spare tire wheel well and damage the fuel pump control unit.

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Fuel canisters and spare tires are stashed by his washing machine in case he needs to leave the city in a hurry.

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It was only when the group donated used cars and spare tires to his military unit with the proceeds from the inscriptions that he believed the operation was legitimate, he said.

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

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