Sparring

How to spell sparring

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce sparring

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does sparring mean?

1. nounThe activity of trading light, practice blows in boxing or martial arts, without trying to injure an opponent.
2. nounThe act of exchanging quick, combative arguments or witty remarks.

Sparring in a sentence

• The coach booked the ring for an hour of sparring before the bout.

• The two lawyers enjoyed a bit of sparring before the formal hearing began.

• His sparring session left him with a bruised cheek but no real damage.

• Their constant sparring in meetings amused some colleagues and exhausted others.

Where does sparring come from?

Language of origin: French

The base verb 'spar' first appears in late Middle English in the context of cockfighting, where it described fighting birds striking out at each other with their feet and spurs. Its deeper origin is genuinely uncertain: lexicographers often link it to the Old French 'esparer', meaning 'to kick out' as a horse does, though a connection to the older sense of 'spar' as a wooden pole has also been suggested. By the early 1800s the word had moved firmly into the boxing world, where 'sparring' came to mean trading light, practice blows rather than fighting in earnest. From there it broadened into a figurative sense of trading witty or argumentative remarks. The spelling trap lives in the doubling: 'spar' ends in a single r, but because the stressed vowel is short, the r doubles before -ing, giving 'sparring' rather than 'sparing'.

How the word is built

• spar (to box or trade blows in practice)
• -r- (doubled consonant)
• -ing (present participle/gerund)