Spar
[spɑː] or [spɑr]
Definition
(noun.) making the motions of attack and defense with the fists and arms; a part of training for a boxer.
(noun.) a stout rounded pole of wood or metal used to support rigging.
(noun.) any of various nonmetallic minerals (calcite or feldspar) that are light in color and transparent or translucent and cleavable.
(verb.) fight verbally; 'They were sparring all night'.
(verb.) box lightly.
(verb.) fight with spurs; 'the gamecocks were sparring'.
(verb.) furnish with spars.
Editor: Marilyn--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) An old name for a nonmetallic mineral, usually cleavable and somewhat lustrous; as, calc spar, or calcite, fluor spar, etc. It was especially used in the case of the gangue minerals of a metalliferous vein.
(v. t.) A general term any round piece of timber used as a mast, yard, boom, or gaff.
(v. t.) Formerly, a piece of timber, in a general sense; -- still applied locally to rafters.
(v. t.) The bar of a gate or door.
(v. t.) To bolt; to bar.
(v. t.) To To supply or equip with spars, as a vessel.
(v. i.) To strike with the feet or spurs, as cocks do.
(v. i.) To use the fists and arms scientifically in attack or defense; to contend or combat with the fists, as for exercise or amusement; to box.
(v. i.) To contest in words; to wrangle.
(n.) A contest at sparring or boxing.
(n.) A movement of offense or defense in boxing.
Inputed by Evelyn
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. n. [1]. Box.[2]. Dispute, wrangle, quarrel, SPAT.
Edited by Angelina
Definition
and adopted by mineralogists in the names of a number of minerals—calcareous spar fluor spar Iceland spar &c.—adj. Spar′ry resembling spar spathic.
yards booms and gaffs &c.—n. Spar′-deck the upper deck of a vessel.
boxing-match or cock-fight.—ns. Spar′rer; Spar′ring.
Editor: Miles
Examples
- I urged my companions to prepare for the wreck of our little skiff, and to bind themselves to some oar or spar which might suffice to float them. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- Mrs. Fairfax was dusting some vases of fine purple spar, which stood on a sideboard. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- She lay between us, and the red light; and every taper line and spar was visible against the glow. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- In 1819 he had announced that the plane of po lari zed light--for example, a ray passed through Iceland spar--is deflected to right or left by various chem ical substances. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- The man carried something over his shoulder which might have been a broken oar, or spar, or bar, and took no notice of him, but passed on. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- But he would see clearer, breathe freer in her presence: she was at once the dead weight at his breast and the spar which should float them to safety. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- But surely, said she, I may enter his county with impunity, and rob it of a few petrified spars without his perceiving me. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- When this sparring partner came to face Corbett in the imitation ring he was so paralyzed with terror he could hardly move. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- Come on,' cried the cabman, who had been sparring without cessation the whole time. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
Edited by Blair