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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
sparse    Audio Help   [spahrs] Pronunciation Key,
–adjective, spars·er, spars·est.
1.thinly scattered or distributed: a sparse population.
2.not thick or dense; thin: sparse hair.
3.scanty; meager.

[Origin: 1715–25; < L sparsus, ptp. of spargere to scatter, sparge]

sparsely, adverb
sparseness, spar·si·ty    Audio Help   [spahr-si-tee] Pronunciation Key, noun

1–3. See scanty.
1–3. abundant.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
sparse

To learn more about sparse visit Britannica.com

© 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
sparse    Audio Help   (spärs)  Pronunciation Key 
adj.   spars·er, spars·est
Occurring, growing, or settled at widely spaced intervals; not thick or dense.


[Latin sparsus, past participle of spargere, to scatter.]

sparse'ly adv., sparse'ness, spar'si·ty (spär'sĭ-tē) n.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
sparse 
1727, from L. sparsus "scattered," pp. of spargere "to scatter, spread," from PIE base *(s)pregh- "to jerk, scatter" (cf. Skt. parjanya- "rain, rain god," Avestan fra-sparega "branch, twig," lit. "that which is jerked off a tree," O.N. freknur "freckles," Swed. dial. sprygg "brisk, active," Lith. sprogti "shoot, bud," O.Ir. arg "a drop").

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
sparse

adjective
not dense; "a thin beard"; "trees were sparse" 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
sparse [spaːs] adjective
thinly scattered
Example: sparse vegetation
Arabic: مُتَفَرِّق، مُتَناثِر
Chinese (Simplified): 稀少的
Chinese (Traditional): 稀少的
Czech: řídký
Danish: sparsom; spredt
Dutch: dun
Estonian: harv
Finnish: harva
French: clairsemé
German: spärlich
Greek: αραιός
Hungarian: szórványos
Icelandic: dreifður, strjáll
Indonesian: jarang
Italian: rado
Japanese: まばらな
Korean: 성긴, 드문드문한
Latvian: rets; trūcīgs
Lithuanian: retas, skurdus
Norwegian: glissen, spredt
Polish: rzadki, skąpy, ubogi
Portuguese (Brazil): esparso
Portuguese (Portugal): ralo
Romanian: rar
Russian: редкий; скудный
Slovak: riedky, zriedkavý
Slovenian: redko posejan
Spanish: escaso
Swedish: gles
Turkish: seyrek
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary, © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd.
Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

sparse
A sparse matrix (or vector, or array) is one in which most of the elements are zero. If storage space is more important than access speed, it may be preferable to store a sparse matrix as a list of (index, value) pairs or use some kind of hash scheme or associative memory.
(1995-01-16)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Sparse

As*perse"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Aspersed; p. pr. & vb. n. Aspersing.] [L. aspersus, p. p. of aspergere to scatter, sprinkle; ad + spargere to strew. See Sparse.]

1. To sprinkle, as water or dust, upon anybody or anything, or to besprinkle any one with a liquid or with dust. --Heywood.

2. To bespatter with foul reports or false and injurious charges; to tarnish in point of reputation or good name; to slander or calumniate; as, to asperse a poet or his writings; to asperse a man's character.

With blackest crimes aspersed. --Cowper.

Syn: To slander; defame; detract from; calumniate; vilify.

Usage: To Asperse, Defame, Slander, Calumniate. These words have in common the idea of falsely assailing the character of another. To asperse is figuratively to cast upon a character hitherto unsullied the imputation of blemishes or faults which render it offensive or loathsome. To defame is to detract from a man's honor and reputation by charges calculated to load him with infamy. Slander (etymologically the same as scandal) and calumniate, from the Latin, have in common the sense of circulating reports to a man's injury from unworthy or malicious motives. Men asperse their neighbors by malignant insinuations; they defame by advancing charges to blacken or sully their fair fame; they slander or calumniate by spreading injurious reports which are false, or by magnifying slight faults into serious errors or crimes.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Sparse

Dis*perse"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dispersed; p. pr. & vb. n. Dispersing.] [L. dispersus, p. p. of dispergere to strew, scatter. See Sparse.]

1. To scatter abroad; to drive to different parts; to distribute; to diffuse; to spread; as, the Jews are dispersed among all nations.

The lips of the wise disperse knowledge. --Prov. xv. 7.

Two lions, in the still, dark night, A herd of beeves disperse. --Cowper.

2. To scatter, so as to cause to vanish; to dissipate; as, to disperse vapors.

Dispersed are the glories. --Shak.

Syn: To scatter; dissipate; dispel; spread; diffuse; distribute; deal out; disseminate.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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