From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsparspar1 /spɑː $ spɑːr/ verb (sparred, sparring) [intransitive] 1 DSto practise boxing with someonespar with He broke his nose while sparring with Vega.2 ARGUEto argue with someone but not in an unpleasant wayspar over Senators are sparring over the health bill.spar with He’s been sparring with the security guards. → sparring partner→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
spar• Foreman was cut over his right eye while sparring.• The two have sparred for months over the health bill.• Before Alan, it was just the two of them sparring over terms, a competition between two fiercely competitive players.• Right away they were sparring, wary of each other.• Bill MacCallum and Shelton have sparred with Hilderbrand for years.• He has already sparred with Michael Bates on virtually all topics.sparspar2 noun [countable] TTWa thick pole, especially one used on a ship to support sails or ropes → mastExamples from the Corpus
spar• Patiently Loi and Mark set about constructing another spar.• Then a submersible pump, concealed in a sump, conveys it back up to a blockwork filter filled with Canterbury spar.• The scaffolding, explains Miss Edwards in her book, was improvised from spars and oars.• An old white gate with no middle spar, Rusty bikes and the door of a car.• A fractional rig is set on a Proctor spar with swept-back spreaders.• Strangely, one of the spars from the bed's headboard seemed to be missing.Origin spar (1500-1600) Probably from spur 