Dictionary

sparringly en · ADV

Etymology

From sparring + -ly.

Meanings

1. As if sparring; in a combative manner.
   • Woolf makes subjective even her statement that human affairs are subjective; Russell sparringly equates mathematics with divinity. 2015, Megan Quigley, Modernist Fiction and Vagueness: Philosophy, Form, and Language:
   • There was a tense, angry silence as they faced each other sparringly in Abbey's dimly lit lounge, then Dalene hissed accusingly, 'You just don't care, do you?' 1982, Yvonne Whittal, Bitter-Sweet Waters, page 144:

Forms