n.
- Nautical. A wooden or metal pole, such as a boom, yard, or bowsprit, used to support sails and rigging.
- A usually metal pole used as part of a crane or derrick.
- A main structural member in an airplane wing or a tail assembly that runs from tip to tip or from root to tip.
- To supply with spars.
- Archaic. To fasten with a bolt.
[Middle English sparre, rafter.]
spar2 (spär)
intr.v., sparred, spar·ring, spars.
- To fight with an opponent in a short bout or practice session, as in boxing or the martial arts.
- To make boxing or fighting motions without hitting one's opponent.
- To bandy words about in argument; dispute.
- To fight by striking with the feet and spurs. Used of gamecocks.
- A motion of attack or defense in boxing.
- A sparring match.
[Middle English sparren, to thrust or strike rapidly, perhaps from obsolete French esparer, to kick, from Old Italian sparare, to fling : s-, intensive pref.; see sforzando + parare, to ward off; see parry.]
spar3 (spär)
n.
A nonmetallic, readily cleavable, translucent or transparent light-colored mineral with a shiny luster, such as feldspar.
[Low German, from Middle Low German.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
