| 释义 |
▪ I. ˈsparring, vbl. n.1
[f. spar v.1]
The action of closing, fastening, or securing.
1564–78W. Bullein Dial. agst. Pest (1888) 57 The diggyng vp of graues, the sparring in of windowes.
▪ II. sparring, vbl. n.2|ˈspɑːrɪŋ|
[f. spar n.1 or v.3]
The action of fitting or providing with spars, in various senses.
1459–60Durh. Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 88 Pro..le Watlyng et sparryng unius domus. 1606Shuttleworths' Acc. (Chetham Soc.) 166 For bynding, rearinge, sparringe, lattinge, and making of iiij dowers in the said barne, vjli. 1627Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. ii. 14 For clamps,..they shall be all of six inch planke... The rest for the sparring vp of the workes of square three inch planke. 1873[W. Cooper] (title), Yachts and Yachting... Being a treatise on building, sparring, canvassing, sailing, and the general management of yachts, etc.
▪ III. sparring, vbl. n.3|ˈspɑːrɪŋ|
[f. spar v.2]
1. The action of fighting or encountering in a special manner (see the vb.) on the part of cocks and pugilists. Also transf., skirmishing.
1686R. Blome Gentl. Recreat. ii. 278/2 After they have been thus fed,..take them out of their Pens, and putting a pair of Hots upon each of their Heals,..let them fight, and buffet each other a good while, provided they do not wound or draw Blood of each other, and this is called Sparring of Cocks. 1728Chambers Cycl., Sparring, among Cock-fighters, is the fighting a Cock with another to breathe him. 1734tr. Rollin's Ancient Hist. (1827) I. 76 Endeavouring by that sparring to keep off their enemy. 1797Sporting Mag. X. 320 Nor is the glory of sparring extinguished for ever. 1811Ibid. XXXVII. 99 A manly stand-up fight, to the exclusion altogether of sparring and shifting. 1861Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. viii, The fighting man was..there, stripped for sparring. 1885New Bk. of Sports 127 Fifty years ago sparring with the gloves was regarded chiefly as a means to an end.
2. transf. Verbal hitting or skirmishing; engagement in argument or dispute; bandying of words.
1755J. Shebbeare Lydia (1769) II. 32 She knew the conversation of the evening would turn upon the subject of the earl's marriage: and that some gentle sparrings might probably be aimed at her ladyship. 1825Jefferson Autobiog. Wks. 1859 I. 11 These gentlemen had had some sparrings in debate before. 1861Illust. Lond. N. 18 May 476/3 A little amusing sparring took place between the lecturer and Mr. Sexton. 1891Clark Russell Curatica 81 But let us have done with sparring, and come to business.
3. In attributive uses, as sparring-academy, sparring-lesson, sparring-match, sparring-room, etc.; † sparring-blow (see quots. a 1700, 1785); also, a hard or severe blow; sparring partner, a boxer employed to practise with another in training for a contest; also transf. and fig., esp. a person with whom one enjoys arguing.
a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Sparring-blows, the first Strokes to try the goodness of young Cocks Heels; also those in a Battel before the Cocks come to Mouth it. 1701Rushw. Hist. Coll. iv. I. 139 This Year [1645] had generally been very fatal to his Majesty's Interests, so it concluded with such a Sparring-Blow as destroy'd almost all hopes of Resource. 1704Lond. Gaz. No. 4063/4 The..Pens are..very convenient to the sparring and stiving Rooms. 1785Grose Dict. Vulgar T., Sparring blows, blows given by cocks before they close, or as the term is, mouth it, used figuratively for words previous to a quarrel. 1807J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life (ed. 3) II. xviii. 208 This sparring match is quite a Comedy to me. 1847Alb. Smith Chr. Tadpole xxix. (1879) 261 I've got a gent up stairs for a sparring lesson. 1853‘C. Bede’ Verdant Green i. xvi, He would have..referred him to his spacious..Sparring Academy. 1908Captain Sept. 530/2 Jack was the best sparring partner he could have. 1930Daily Express 8 Sept. 2/3 Cal Barton (Birmingham), Jack Hood's sparring partner. 1958Victorian Studies I. 248 Mill..is used with the utmost disrespect as a sort of punch-drunk sparring-partner. 1971H. Wilson Labour Govt. xxv. 493 Mr Mikoyan, my old sparring-partner and friend of the 1947 trade talks, now in honourable retirement, was waiting for us. 1977‘E. McBain’ Long Time No See iv. 60, I was workin [sic] with Warren and a sparring partner... Warren's got a fight Tuesday night. |