spar

[spahr]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR spar ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.

verb (used with object), sparred, spar·ring.

to provide or make with spars.

Origin of spar

1250–1300; Middle English sparre (noun); cognate with German Sparren, Dutch spar, Old Norse sparri

Related formsspar·like, adjective

spar

[spahr]

verb (used without object), sparred, spar·ring.

(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.

noun

a motion of sparring.

a boxing match.

a dispute.

Origin of spar

1350–1400; Middle English: orig., thrust (noun and v.); perhaps akin to spur¹

spar

[spahr]

noun

any of various more or less lustrous crystalline minerals: fluorspar.

Origin of spar

1575–85; back formation from sparstone spar, Old English spærstān gypsum; compare Middle Low German spar

Related formsspar·like, adjective

SPAR

or Spar

[spahr]

noun

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

Origin of SPAR

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

SpAr

Spanish Arabic.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for spar

argue, quarrel, contend, bicker, wrangle, box, fight, dispute, contest

Examples from the Web for spar

Contemporary Examples of spar

Spar has a new book titled The Baby Business: How Money, Science and Politics Drive the Commerce of Conception.
Want Blue Eyes With That Baby?: The Strange New World of Human Reproduction
Eleanor Clift
November 24, 2014
Asked if the ability to reproduce should be a human right, Spar said she would leave that for the philosophers to think about.
Want Blue Eyes With That Baby?: The Strange New World of Human Reproduction
Eleanor Clift
November 24, 2014
But an island any less menacing would fail to breed a villain who could hope to spar with James Bond.
Japan's James Bond Villain Ghost Town
Nina Strochlic
August 7, 2014
But Cruz followed Lee on the Senate floor to spar with McCain.
Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Mike Lee: When Freshmen Attack
Patricia Murphy
May 30, 2013
By Monday, however, Santorum had learned to deflect questions on hot-button social issues rather than spar with potential voters.
Santorum’s New Hampshire Expectations Plummet as Iowa Glow Wears Off
Lois Romano
January 10, 2012

Historical Examples of spar

You just spar with yourself and get limbered up, while I put some wood on the fire.
In the Midst of Alarms
Robert Barr
The man was placed horizontally on a base board beneath the spar.
Flying Machines
W.J. Jackman and Thos. H. Russell
Every man and spar and oar on the vessel seemed burning in its light.
Buried Cities: Pompeii, Olympia, Mycenae
Jennie Hall
The sheet is led aft to a spar that projects beyond the counter.
Boys' Book of Model Boats
Raymond Francis Yates
When she appeared he caught her in his arms as if she were a spar and he a drowning sailor.
In a Little Town
Rupert Hughes

British Dictionary definitions for spar

spar

noun

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

Word Origin for spar

C13: from Old Norse sperra beam; related to Old High German sparro, Old French esparre

spar

verb spars, sparring or sparred (intr)

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

to dispute or argue

(of gamecocks) to fight with the feet or spurs

noun

an unaggressive fight

an argument or wrangle

informal a close friend

Word Origin for spar

Old English, perhaps from spur

spar

noun

any of various minerals, such as feldspar or calcite, that are light-coloured, microcrystalline, transparent to translucent, and easily cleavableRelated adjective: spathic

Word Origin for spar

C16: from Middle Low German spar; related to Old English spærstān; see feldspar

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for spar

n.1

"stout pole," c.1300, "rafter," from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch sparre, from Proto-Germanic *sparron (cf. Old English *spere "spear, lance," Old Norse sperra "rafter, beam"), from PIE root *sper- "spear, pole" (see spear (n.1)). Nautical use dates from 1640. Also borrowed in Old French as esparre, which may have been the direct source of the English word.

"to box," c.1400, "to strike or thrust," perhaps from Middle French esparer "to kick," from Italian sparare "to fling," from Latin ex- (see ex-) + parare "make ready, prepare," hence "ward off, parry" (see pare). Used in 17c. in reference to preliminary actions in a cock fight; figurative sense of "to dispute, bandy with words" is from 1690s. Extension to humans, with meaning "to engage in or practice boxing" is attested from 1755. Related: Sparred; sparring.

n.2

"shiny mineral that splits easily," 1580s, from Low German Spar, from Middle Low German *spar, sper, cognate with Old English spær- in spærstan "gypsum."