Nautical. a stout pole such as those used for masts, etc.; a mast, yard, boom, gaff, or the like.
Aeronautics. a principal lateral member of the framework of a wing of an airplane.
(of boxers) to make the motions of attack and defense with the arms and fists, especially as a part of training.
to box, especially with light blows.
to strike or attack with the feet or spurs, as gamecocks do.
to bandy words; dispute.
a motion of sparring.
a boxing match.
a dispute.
boxing martial arts to fight using light blows, as in training
to dispute or argue
(of gamecocks) to fight with the feet or spurs
an unaggressive fight
an argument or wrangle
informal a close friend
any piece of nautical gear resembling a pole and used as a mast, boom, gaff, etc
( as modifier )
a spar buoy
a principal supporting structural member of an aerofoil that runs from tip to tip or root to tip
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English spar(r)e, sperre, sper “a board, rafter, beam”; cognate with German Sparren, Dutch, Frisian spar, Old Norse sparri
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English spar(r)en “to go quickly, rush, dart, thrust”; further origin unknown
First recorded in 1575–85; from Middle Low German spar, sper; akin to Old English spær(stān) “gypsum, chalk”
1942; < Latin S ( emper ) par ( ātus ) “Always ready” the Coast Guard motto
If you spar with someone, you exchange light blows — either literally by punching each other, or figuratively by exchanging verbal blows. If you box, you might spar with an opponent at the gym while you're training. You don't strike too hard — it’s just practice. Similarly, if you spar with words, you typically do it playfully and without anger. You might repeatedly spar with your mom about who makes the best meatloaf, but it’s all in good fun. Spar is also the name of a rigging pole, as well as of some light minerals like calcite, that you can cut through.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The 26th president, Teddy Roosevelt, regularly invited professional boxers, military aides and guests to the executive mansion to spar, at least until he suffered a detached retina.
From Salon ● Jun. 19, 2026
It was US President Donald Trump's 80th birthday and the eve of his departure for the G7 summit in the French spar town of Evian-les-Bains.
From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026
The county is trying to buy the land, while some of the parties spar in the courts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 31, 2026
Throughout the tense exchange in Justice Samuel Alito’s concurrence and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s dissent, they spar over when the clock of the rule of law should start and stop.
From Slate ● May 5, 2026
“Until we spar again,” he says, making a bow that I cannot help feel is nothing but mockery.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
It was joined by BWG Foods, which said the products were no longer listed for distribution across its network of SPAR, EUROSPAR, MACE, Londis and XL stores.
From BBC ● Nov. 28, 2024
So in World War II, she enlisted as a SPAR, becoming the first African American woman in the Coast Guard.
From Time ● May 20, 2015
That has grown into Aerojet-General, a subsidiary that turns out Polaris, Minuteman and Titan rocket motors and a cigar-shaped, 354-ft. ocea-nographical research vessel called the SPAR, which bobs in the seas in a vertical position.
From Time Magazine Archive
Some mighty kind, I dare say, with wealth beyond all counting who came to live up here— SPAR.
From The Complete Plays of Gilbert and Sullivan by Gilbert, W. S. (William Schwenck), Sir
So please to wait For thoughts that crop, En tete-a-tete, On mountain top, May not exactly tally With those that you May entertain, Returning to The sober plain Of yon relaxing valley SPAR.
From The Complete Plays of Gilbert and Sullivan by Gilbert, W. S. (William Schwenck), Sir
Have Anthropic and the Trump administration sparred before?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026
For more than 15 years he has trained under Peter Fury and sparred Tyson Fury, Dillian Whyte and UFC champion Tom Aspinall.
From BBC ● May 22, 2026
A former world kickboxing champion who came to the Palisades from the Florida Panhandle in 1982, Blanck has sparred with boxing champion Sugar Ray Leonard and trained actors Tom Hanks and Steve Guttenberg.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026
Elon Musk sparred with lawyers for a third day Thursday at his California trial against OpenAI, struggling to explain why his own for-profit AI empire differs from the one he is trying to take down.
From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026
Ann and C.P. sparred directly at city council meetings.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
At Youth Unity, I also meet 15-year-old Zipporah, who is verbally sparring with other girls in this week's debating session about the benefits and pitfalls of social media.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
Bonilla batted only .237 with seven home runs and 30 runs batted in for the Dodgers while sparring with Tom Lasorda, who succeeded Fred Claire as general manager on June 22 of that year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
Orcel’s maneuvering to take control has contributed to the sparring between the two banks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
Vietnam and China have a history of sparring over the South China Sea, or the East Sea as Vietnam calls it.
From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026
Now and then the tension erupted in verbal sparring.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
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.
