SPAR (sparred, sparring)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: sparred    , sparring   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does spar mean? 

• SPAR (noun)
  The noun SPAR has 3 senses:

1. any of various nonmetallic minerals (calcite or feldspar) that are light in color and transparent or translucent and cleavable

2. a stout rounded pole of wood or metal used to support rigging

3. making the motions of attack and defense with the fists and arms; a part of training for a boxer

  Familiarity information: SPAR used as a noun is uncommon.

• SPAR (verb)
  The verb SPAR has 4 senses:

1. furnish with spars

2. fight with spurs

3. box lightly

4. fight verbally

  Familiarity information: SPAR used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SPAR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any of various nonmetallic minerals (calcite or feldspar) that are light in color and transparent or translucent and cleavable

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("spar" is a kind of...):

mineral (solid homogeneous inorganic substances occurring in nature having a definite chemical composition)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "spar"):

feldspar; felspar (any of a group of hard crystalline minerals that consist of aluminum silicates of potassium or sodium or calcium or barium)

calcite (a common mineral consisting of crystallized calcium carbonate; a major constituent of limestone)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A stout rounded pole of wood or metal used to support rigging

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("spar" is a kind of...):

pole (a long (usually round) rod of wood or metal or plastic)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "spar"):

boom (any of various more-or-less horizontal spars or poles used to extend the foot of a sail or for handling cargo or in mooring)

bowsprit (a spar projecting from the bow of a vessel)

dolphin striker; martingale (spar under the bowsprit of a sailboat)

gaff (a spar rising aft from a mast to support the head of a quadrilateral fore-and-aft sail)

jibboom (a spar that extends the bowsprit)

mast (a vertical spar for supporting sails)

sprit (a light spar that crosses a fore-and-aft sail diagonally)

yard (a long horizontal spar tapered at the end and used to support and spread a square sail or lateen)

Holonyms ("spar" is a part of...):

ship (a vessel that carries passengers or freight)

Derivation:

spar (furnish with spars)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Making the motions of attack and defense with the fists and arms; a part of training for a boxer

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

spar; sparring

Hypernyms ("spar" is a kind of...):

boxing; fisticuffs; pugilism (fighting with the fists)

• SPAR (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they spar    ... he / she / it spars   
Past simple: sparred   
Past participle: sparred   
-ing form: sparring   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Furnish with spars

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "spar" is one way to...):

equip; fit; fit out; outfit (provide with (something) usually for a specific purpose)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

spar (a stout rounded pole of wood or metal used to support rigging)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Fight with spurs

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

the gamecocks were sparring

Hypernyms (to "spar" is one way to...):

contend; fight; struggle (be engaged in a fight; carry on a fight)

Domain category:

cockfighting (participation in the sport of matching gamecocks in a cockfight)

athletics; sport (an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 3

Meaning:

Box lightly

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "spar" is one way to...):

box (engage in a boxing match)

Domain category:

athletics; sport (an active diversion requiring physical exertion and competition)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

sparring (making the motions of attack and defense with the fists and arms; a part of training for a boxer)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Fight verbally

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

They were sparring all night

Hypernyms (to "spar" is one way to...):

argue; contend; debate; fence (have an argument about something)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence examples:

Sam and Sue spar
Sam wants to spar with Sue

Derivation:

sparring (an argument in which the participants are trying to gain some advantage)

 Context examples 

Then, doctor, said Silver, you just step outside o' that stockade, and once you're there I'll bring the boy down on the inside, and I reckon you can yarn through the spars.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

It was like sparring for an opening in fist-fighting.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

We were astonished at the ease with which the spar was lifted.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Mrs. Fairfax was dusting some vases of fine purple spar, which stood on a sideboard.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

She lay between us, and the red light; and every taper line and spar was visible against the glow.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Every spar, rope, and stay was strained, and some of the "top-hammer" came crashing down.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The seafloor system is an anchored spar buoy topped by a high precision Global Positioning System.

(Geoscientists develop technology to improve forecasting of earthquakes, tsunamis, National Science Foundation)

From early dawn until nightfall he was running, jumping, striking a bladder which swung upon a bar, or sparring with his formidable trainer.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“But surely,” said she, “I may enter his county with impunity, and rob it of a few petrified spars without his perceiving me.”

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

A splintered boat and a number of crates and fragments of spars rising and falling on the waves showed us where the vessel had foundered; but there was no sign of life, and we had turned away in despair when we heard a cry for help, and saw at some distance a piece of wreckage with a man lying stretched across it.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)