spar

• (UK) IPA^(key): /spɑː/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /spɑɹ/, [spɑɹ], [spɑ˞]
• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)
• Homophone: spa (non-rhotic)

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.

spar (plural spars)

1. A rafter of a roof.
2. A thick pole or piece of wood.
3. (obsolete) A bar of wood used to fasten a door.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto XI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     The Prince staid not his aunswere to devize, / But, opening streight the Sparre, forth to him came […].

4. (nautical) Any linear object used as a mast, sprit, yard, boom, pole or gaff.
5. (aeronautics) A beam-like structural member that supports ribs in an aircraft wing or other airfoil.

spar (third-person singular simple present spars, present participle sparring, simple past and past participle sparred)

1. (obsolete or dialectal) To bolt, bar.
   • 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:

     The church dores were sparred,
     Fast boltyd and barryd,
     Yet wyth a prety gyn
     I fortuned to come in, […]

2. (transitive) To supply or equip (a vessel) with spars.

• oversparred, undersparred

From Middle English sparren (“to dart out; to strike out”), from Old English sperran, spirran, spyrran (“to strike, strike out at, spar”), related to Low German sparre (“a struggling, striving”), German sich sperren (“to struggle, resist, oppose”), Icelandic sperrast (“to kick out at, thrust, struggle”). The slang sense of friend is probably from the phrase sparring partner under the influence of the similar slang words par and star.

spar (third-person singular simple present spars, present participle sparring, simple past and past participle sparred)

1. To fight, especially as practice for martial arts or hand-to-hand combat.
   • 2012 April 15, Phil McNulty, “Tottenham 1-5 Chelsea”, in BBC‎^[1]:

     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.

2. To strike with the feet or spurs, as cocks do.
3. To contest in words; to wrangle.

• sparrer

spar (plural spars)

1. A sparring session; a preliminary fight, as in boxing or cock-fighting.
2. (MLE) A friend, a mate, a pal.
   • 2002, “No Escape” (track 23), in It's All Happening Now‎^[2], performed by Lewis Parker (musician), Klashnekoff, and Skriblah Dan Gogh:

     KLASHNEKOFF: I take two glass then pass the spliff to my spars.

   • 2003, “Soap Bar”, in The Manifesto‎^[3], performed by Goldie Looking Chain:

     '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!

   • 2009 March 17, “Next Hype” (track 3), in All-Star Pars‎^[4], performed by Tempa T:

     I don't care if you got friends in your car. Light up your whip and all of your spars.

   • 2014 September 12, “September 12th”‎^[5]performed by S.Kalibre:

     Trying to explain to my spars how it is over a spliff. Arguing, cause the media got 'em locked under their lids.

From Middle Low German spar, sper (“spar”); or from a backformation of sparstone (“spar”), from Middle English sparston (“gypsum, chalk”), from Old English spærstān (“gypsum”). Related to German Sparkalk (“plaster”), Old English spæren (“of plaster, of mortar”).

spar (countable and uncountable, plural spars)

2. (mineralogy) Any of various microcrystalline minerals, of light, translucent, or transparent appearance, which are easily cleft.
3. (mineralogy) Any crystal with readily discernible faces.

• → Irish: sparra
• → Welsh: sbar

• APRs, Arps, PSRA, RAPs, arps, pars, raps, rasp, sapr-

From Spanish espada (“sword”), from Latin spatha, from Ancient Greek σπάθη (spáthē, “blade”).

spar c (singular definite sparen, plural indefinite sparer or spar)

1. spade (One of the four suits of playing cards, marked with the symbol ♠)

See spare (“to save,spare”).

spar

1. imperative of spare

Suits in Danish · farver, kulører (layout · text)
hjerter	ruder	spar	klør

• spar on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^da
• Spar (kulør) on the Danish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^da

• IPA^(key): /spɑr/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: spar
• Rhymes: -ɑr

From Middle Dutch sparre (“pole, beam”), from Old Dutch *sparro, from Frankish *sparro, from Proto-Germanic *sparrô. Cognate to West Frisian spjir.

spar m (plural sparren, diminutive sparretje n)

1. spruce; certain tree of the family Pinaceae, especially of the genus Picea, but also used for trees of the genera Abies, Tsuga and Pseudotsuga

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

spar

1. inflection of sparren:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
   3. imperative

• IPA^(key): [ʃpaːɐ̯]

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

spar

1. singular imperative of sparen
2. (colloquial) first-person singular present of sparen

Related to the verb spara (“to save”).

spar (comparative sparari, superlative sparastur)

1. economical
2. thrifty

spar

1. A friend, a mate, a pal.
   • 2007, “They Fear Me” (track 6), in Gangsta for Life:The Symphony of David Brooks (2007)‎^[6], performed by Mavado (singer):

     I'm so far, my main spars dem no near mi. Singing my song to let my enemies hear mi.

     I'm so far better than the competition that my main friends aren't near me in ability. Singing my song to let my enemies hear me.

spar

1. alternative form of sparren (“to close”)

From German [Term?], from Spanish espadas (“sword”).

spar

1. spades (suit in playing cards)

spar

1. imperative of spare

• “spar” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From German [Term?], from Spanish espadas (“sword”).

spar m (definite singular sparen, indefinite plural spar or sparar, definite plural sparane)

1. spades (suit in playing cards)

spar

1. present of spa
2. imperative of spara

• “spar” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Inherited from Latin squalus (“large type of fish; shark”). Doublet of scal from French.

spar m (plural spari) (archaic)

1. shark

spar

1. inflection of spara:
   1. present indicative
   2. imperative

• pars, raps