Jump To:

• spar
  spar

  noun

  a stout pole such as those used for masts, etc.; a mast, yard, boom, gaff, or the like.
• SPAR
  SPAR

  noun

  (during World War II) a woman enlisted in the women's reserve of the U.S. Coast Guard (disbanded in 1946).
• SpAr
  SpAr

  abbreviation

  Spanish Arabic.

spar

¹ American  

[spahr] / spɑr /

noun

1. Nautical. a stout pole such as those used for masts, etc.; a mast, yard, boom, gaff, or the like.

2. Aeronautics. a principal lateral member of the framework of a wing of an airplane.

---

verb (used with object)

sparred, sparring

1. to provide or make with spars.

spar ² American  

[spahr] / spɑr /

verb (used without object)

sparred, sparring

1. (of boxers) to make the motions of attack and defense with the arms and fists, especially as a part of training.

2. to box, especially with light blows.

3. to strike or attack with the feet or spurs, as gamecocks do.

4. to bandy words; dispute.

---

noun

1. a motion of sparring.

2. a boxing match.

3. a dispute.

spar ³ American  

[spahr] / spɑr /

noun

1. any of various more or less lustrous crystalline minerals, as fluorspar or feldspar.

---

SPAR ⁴ American  

[spahr] / spɑr /

Or Spar

noun

1. (during World War II) a woman enlisted in the women's reserve of the U.S. Coast Guard (disbanded in 1946).

---

SpAr ⁵ American  

abbreviation

1. Spanish Arabic.

---

spar ¹ British  

/ spɑː /

verb

1. boxing martial arts to fight using light blows, as in training

2. to dispute or argue

3. (of gamecocks) to fight with the feet or spurs

---

noun

1. an unaggressive fight

2. an argument or wrangle

3. informal a close friend

spar ² British  

/ spɑː /

noun

1. 1. any piece of nautical gear resembling a pole and used as a mast, boom, gaff, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      a spar buoy

2. a principal supporting structural member of an aerofoil that runs from tip to tip or root to tip

---

spar ³ British  

/ spɑː /

noun

1. any of various minerals, such as feldspar or calcite, that are light-coloured, microcrystalline, transparent to translucent, and easily cleavable

---

Other Word Forms

• sparlike
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of spar¹

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

Origin of spar²

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English spar(r)en “to go quickly, rush, dart, thrust”; further origin unknown

Origin of spar³

First recorded in 1575–85; from Middle Low German spar, sper; akin to Old English spær(stān) “gypsum, chalk”

Origin of SPAR⁴

1942; < Latin S ( emper ) par ( ātus ) “Always ready” the Coast Guard motto

Explanation

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

spar SPAR sparred sparring

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

He would spar, get hit and wonder why he was doing this.

From BBC ● Apr. 6, 2026

The sheriff gave Abel Martinson a boost, and he lunged in his polar coat toward the cross spar.

From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson

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

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 Sir W. S. (William Schwenck) Gilbert

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 Sir W. S. (William Schwenck) Gilbert

TKV, who has sparred Joshua, Daniel Dubois and Fabio Wardley, has seen enough behind closed doors to believe Itauma can handle it.

From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026

The president sat as reporters from outlets he has sparred with and even sued, including the New York Times, CNN and the Wall Street Journal, came up to be honoured with awards.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026

The fates of all three companies are intertwined, as their leaders—including Musk, OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Anthropic’s Dario Amodei—have sparred with one another over a technology they helped launch together.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026

In an extraordinary scene, the two presidents sparred on national television about the usually off-limits subjects of human rights and the Tiananmen crackdown.

From Barron's ● May 15, 2026

I could tell by the narrow line of Maxim’s mouth, and I wondered if brothers and sisters always sparred like this, making it uncomfortable for those who listened.

From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier

The crowd had made its allegiances clear after a fiery build-up which included Itauma shoving Hrgovic, the Zagreb man slapping him back and plenty of verbal sparring.

From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026

Video footage showed her sparring with two younger eagles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2026

Remarkably, the only time they have ever shared a ring was during a sparring session at Finchley Amateur Boxing Club in 2010.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

In the A.I. age, Maggie Hennessy asserts, sparring with a grouchy maître d’ over the phone is part of what makes dining out great.

From Slate ● Jul. 24, 2026

It was outside Junior's trial, and me and T was kinda sparring over T being pretty sure Junior didn't do the murder he went down for.

From "How It Went Down" by Kekla Magoon

Related Words

• argue
• bicker
• contend
• quarrel
• wrangle