Meaning & use
sparring partner
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
A person you practice boxing with, or someone you argue or compete with in a friendly way to improve your skills.
Grammar: Countable; use 'a sparring partner' or 'sparring partners'.
Patterns
- someone's sparring partner
- act as a sparring partner
- a sparring partner for someone
He hired a professional boxer as his sparring partner before the big fight.
In the debate, she used her colleague as a sparring partner to test her arguments.
The two politicians are often seen as sparring partners on economic policy.
Word forms
| plural | sparring partners |
|---|
Common combinations
- a good sparring partner
- A good sparring partner will push you to improve.
- find a sparring partner
- She found a sparring partner to practice her debating skills.
- act as a sparring partner
- He acted as a sparring partner for the young boxer.
- political sparring partner
- The senator's political sparring partner challenged him on the bill.
Synonyms and how they differ
- practice partner
- More general; used for any activity, not just boxing or arguing.
- sparring mate
- Informal, mostly in sports; less common in business or politics.
Word family
- spar verb
- To practice boxing or argue without serious intent.
Commonly confused: sparring partner or sparing partner?
sparring partner vs sparing partner
A 'sparing partner' would be someone who is generous or lenient, not a practice opponent.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'sparring partner' correctly?
Choose one answer.
A sparring partner is someone you practice boxing or debating with, so training together fits. The other options use it for unrelated activities like moving furniture or having coffee, which is not the meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “sparring partner”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.