Spar Meaning
/spɑː/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA rafter of a roof.
nounA thick pole or piece of wood.
Sentence Examples
Would you like to spar with me?
If you spar with him, I'll tell you a secret about his strength.
Spain and the UK continue to spar over the territory.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The two professional boxers will ____ in the ring for the title.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The boxer practiced with his coach to ____ and improve his footwork before the big championship fight.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English sparre (“spar, rafter, beam”) (noun), sparren (“to close, bar”) (verb), from Middle Dutch sparre or Middle Low German Sparre, all ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sparrô (“stake, beam”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)par- (“beam, log”). Compare Dutch spar (“balk”), German Sparren (“rafter, spar”), Danish sparre (“spar”), Albanian shparr, shpardh (“kind of oak”). Perhaps also compare spear.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The Prince staid not his aunswere to devize, / But, opening streight the Sparre, forth to him came […]."
— 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto XI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
"The church dores were sparred,
Fast boltyd and barryd,
Yet wyth a prety gyn
I fortuned to come in, […]"
— c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood, editor, John Skelton: The Complete English Poems, 1983, →OCLC, page 64, lines 91–94:
"After early sparring, Spurs started to take control as the interval approached and twice came close to taking the lead. Terry blocked Rafael van der Vaart's header on the line and the same player saw his cross strike the post after Adebayor was unable to apply a touch."
— 2012 April 15, Phil McNulty, “Tottenham 1-5 Chelsea”, in BBC:
"KLASHNEKOFF: I take two glass then pass the spliff to my spars."
— 2002, “No Escape” (track 23), in It's All Happening Now, performed by Lewis Parker (musician), Klashnekoff, and Skriblah Dan Gogh:
"'Ello clart! How are you doin' spar? Let's have a look at your mobile phone there, that's fuckin' posh, innit?[…]that's fuckin' safe, spar!"
— 2003, “Soap Bar”, in The Manifesto, performed by Goldie Looking Chain:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The two professional boxers will ____ in the ring for the title.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The boxer practiced with his coach to ____ and improve his footwork before the big championship fight.