Spark

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (intransitive), Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Spark, n. [OE. sparke, AS. spearca; akin to D. spark, sperk; cf. Icel. spraka to crackle, Lith. spragëti, Gr. a bursting with a noise, Skr. sphrj to crackle, to thunder. Cf. Speak.].

•  A small particle of fire or ignited substance which is emitted by a body in combustion.  [1913 Webster]

  "Man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward."  [1913 Webster]
•  A small, shining body, or transient light; a sparkle.  [1913 Webster]
•  That which, like a spark, may be kindled into a flame, or into action; a feeble germ; an elementary principle.  [1913 Webster]

  "We have here and there a little clear light, some sparks of bright knowledge."  [1913 Webster]

  "Bright gem instinct with music, vocal spark."  [1913 Webster]

Spark arrester, a contrivance to prevent the escape of sparks while it allows the passage of gas, -- chiefly used in the smokestack of a wood-burning locomotive. Called also spark consumer. [U.S.]

Spark, n. [Icel. sparkr lively, sprightly.].

•  A brisk, showy, gay man.  [1913 Webster]

  "The finest sparks and cleanest beaux."  [1913 Webster]
•  A lover; a gallant; a beau.  [1913 Webster]

Spark, v. i. 

•  To sparkle.  Spenser.  [1913 Webster]
•  To produce, or give off, sparks, as a dynamo at the commutator when revolving under the collecting brushes.  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

Spark, v. i. 

 To play the spark, beau, or lover.  [1913 Webster]
"A sure sign that his master was courting, or, as it is termed, sparking, within."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Spark, n. & v.
--n.
1 a fiery particle thrown off from a fire, or alight in ashes, or produced by a flint, match, etc.
2 (often foll. by of) a particle of a quality etc. (not a spark of life; a spark of interest).
3 Electr. a a light produced by a sudden disruptive discharge through the air etc. b such a discharge serving to ignite the explosive mixture in an internal-combustion engine.
4 a a flash of wit etc. b anything causing interest, excitement, etc. c (also bright spark) a witty or lively person.
5 a small bright object or point, e.g. in a gem.
6 (Sparks) a nickname for a radio operator or an electrician.
--v.
1 intr. emit sparks of fire or electricity.
2 tr. (often foll. by off) stir into activity; initiate (a process) suddenly.
3 intr. Electr. produce sparks at the point where a circuit is interrupted.

Idiom

spark chamber an apparatus designed to show ionizing particles. spark-gap the space between electric terminals where sparks occur. sparking-plug Brit. = spark-plug. spark-plug a device for firing the explosive mixture in an internal-combustion engine.

Derivative

sparkless adj. sparky adj.

Spark, n. & v.
--n.
1 a lively young fellow.
2 a gallant, a beau.
--v.intr. play the gallant.

Derivative

sparkish adj.

Etymology

prob. a fig. use of SPARK(1)

THESAURUS

Spark

AC arc, Beau Brummel, Poulsen arc, abettor, activate, actuate, actuator, address, animate, animator, aperiodic discharge, arc, arc column, arc discharge, atom, bake, be in heat, beau, begin, blade, blaze, blink, blinking, blood, bloom, boil, boulevardier, bring about, broil, brush discharge, bud, burn, cajoler, cast, chase, choke, clotheshorse, coax, coaxer, combust, compel, cook, coruscate, coruscation, court, coxcomb, dandy, dash, discharge, disruptive discharge, dude, electric discharge, electric shock, electric spark, electrify, electrodeless discharge, embryo, encourager, energize, energizer, enkindle, esquire, excite, exquisite, fashion plate, fine gentleman, fire, firefly, firer, flame, flame up, flare, flare up, flicker, flush, follow, fop, force, foster, fribble, fry, gadfly, gallant, galvanic shock, galvanize, galvanizer, gasp, germ, gleam, glimmer, glimmering, glint, glisk, glisten, glister, glitter, glittering, glow, glow discharge, glowworm, hint, idea, ignite, impel, impeller, incandesce, inducer, initiate, inspire, inspirer, inspirit, intimation, iota, jack-a-dandy, jackanapes, kindle, lady-killer, lay siege to, lick, light the fuse, look, macaroni, make suit to, make up to, man-about-town, masher, motivate, move, move to action, mover, moving spirit, nucleus, oscillatory discharge, pant, parch, pay attention to, pay court to, persuader, pleader, precipitate, prime mover, promote, prompter, propel, provoke, puppy, pursue, radiate heat, roast, scald, scintilla, scintillate, scintillation, scorch, seethe, serenade, set in motion, set off, shade, shadow, shimmer, shimmer with heat, shimmering, shock, silent discharge, simmer, sip, smack, smattering, smell, smolder, smother, soupcon, spangle, spark gap, spark plug, sparker, sparkle, speck, sport, sprinkling, squire, start up, steam, stew, stifle, stimulate, stimulator, stroboscopic light, sue, suffocate, suggestion, sup, suspicion, swain, sweat, sweetheart, swell, swelter, taste, tempter, thought, tincture, tinge, tinsel, toast, touch, touch off, trace, trigger, twinkle, twinkling, vestige, wheedler, whit, woo, wooer

ROGET THESAURUS

Spark

Smallness

N smallness, littleness, tenuity, paucity, fewness, meanness, insignificance (unimportance), mediocrity, moderation, small quantity, modicum, trace, hint, minimum, vanishing point, material point, atom, particle, molecule, corpuscle, point, speck, dot, mote, jot, iota, ace, minutiae, details, look, thought, idea, soupcon, dab, dight, whit, tittle, shade, shadow, spark, scintilla, gleam, touch, cast, grain, scruple, granule, globule, minim, sup, sip, sop, spice, drop, droplet, sprinkling, dash, morceau, screed, smack, tinge, tincture, inch, patch, scantling, tatter, cantlet, flitter, gobbet, mite, bit, morsel, crumb, seed, fritter, shive, snip, snippet, snick, snack, snatch, slip, scrag, chip, chipping, shiver, sliver, driblet, clipping, paring, shaving, hair, nutshell, thimbleful, spoonful, handful, capful, mouthful, fragment, fraction, drop in the ocean, animalcule, trifle, mere nothing, next to nothing, hardly anything, just enough to swear by, the shadow of a shade, finiteness, finite quantity, small, little, diminutive, minute, fine, inconsiderable, paltry, faint, slender, light, slight, scanty, scant, limited, meager, sparing, few, low, so-so, middling, tolerable, no great shakes, below par, under par, below the mark, at a low ebb, halfway, moderate, modest, tender, subtle, inappreciable, evanescent, infinitesimal, homeopathic, very small, atomic, corpuscular, microscopic, molecular, subatomic, mere, simple, sheer, stark, bare, near run, dull, petty, shallow, stolid, ungifted, unintelligent, to a small extent, on a small scale, a little bit, a wee bit, slightly, imperceptibly, miserably, wretchedly, insufficiently, imperfectly, faintly, passably, pretty well, well enough, partially, in part, in a certain degree, to a certain degree, to a certain extent, comparatively, some, rather in some degree, in some measure, something, somewhat, simply, only, purely, merely, at least, at the least, at most, at the most, ever so little, as little as may be, tant soit peu, in ever so small a degree, thus far, pro tanto, within bounds, in a manner, after a fashion, so to speak, almost, nearly, well-nigh, short of, not quite, all but, near upon, close upon, peu s'en faut, near the mark, within an ace of, within an inch of, on the brink of, scarcely, hardly, barely, only just, no more than, about, thereabouts, somewhere about, nearly, say, be the same, be little more or less, no ways, no way, no wise, not at all, not in the least, not a bit, not a bit of it, not a whit, not a jot, not a shadow, in no wise, in no respect, by no means, by no manner of means, on no account, at no hand, dare pondus idonea fumo, magno conatu magnas nugas, small sands the mountain, moments make the year.

Humorist

N humorist, wag, wit, reparteeist, epigrammatist, punster, bel esprit, life of the party, wit-snapper, wit-cracker, wit- worm, joker, jester, Joe Miller, drole de corps, gaillard, spark, bon diable, practical joker, buffoon, farceur, merry-andrew, mime, tumbler, acrobat, mountebank, charlatan, posturemaster, harlequin, punch, pulcinella, scaramouch, clown, wearer of the cap and bells, wearer of the motley, motley fool, pantaloon, gypsy, jack-pudding, jack in the green, jack a dandy, wiseacre, wise guy, smartass, fool, zany, madcap, pickle-herring, witling, caricaturist, grimacier, persifleur.

Heat

N heat, caloric, temperature, warmth, fervor, calidity, incalescence, incandescence, glow, flush, fever, hectic, phlogiston, fire, spark, scintillation, flash, flame, blaze, bonfire, firework, pyrotechnics, pyrotechny, wildfire, sheet of fire, lambent flame, devouring element, adiathermancy, recalescence, summer, dog days, canicular days, baking, heat, white heat, tropical heat, Afric heat, Bengal heat, summer heat, blood heat, sirocco, simoom, broiling sun, insolation, warming, sun, pyrology, thermology, thermotics, thermodynamics, thermometer, calorie, gram-calorie, small calorie, kilocalorie, kilogram calorie, large calorie, British Thermal Unit, B, T, U, therm, quad, degrees Kelvin, kelvins, degrees centigrade, degrees Celsius, degrees Fahrenheit, hot, warm, mild, genial, tepid, lukewarm, unfrozen, thermal, thermic, calorific, fervent, fervid, ardent, aglow, sunny, torrid, tropical, estival, canicular, steamy, close, sultry, stifling, stuffy, suffocating, oppressive, reeking, baking, red hot, white hot, smoking hot, burning, hot, piping hot, like a furnace, like an oven, burning, hot as fire, hot as pepper, hot enough to roast an ox, hot enough to boil an egg, fiery, incandescent, incalescent, candent, ebullient, glowing, smoking, live, on fire, dazzling, in flames, blazing, in a blaze, alight, afire, ablaze, unquenched, unextinguished, smoldering, in a heat, in a glow, in a fever, in a perspiration, in a sweat, sudorific, sweltering, sweltered, blood hot, blood warm, warm as a toast, warm as wool, volcanic, plutonic, igneous, isothermal, isothermic, isotheral, not a breath of air, whirlwinds of tempestuous fire.

Light

N light, ray, beam, stream, gleam, streak, pencil, sunbeam, moonbeam, aurora, day, sunshine, light of day, light of heaven, moonlight, starlight, sunlight, daylight, broad daylight, noontide light, noontide, noonday, noonday sun, glow, glimmering, glint, play of light, flood of light, phosphorescence, lambent flame, flush, halo, glory, nimbus, aureola, spark, scintilla, facula, sparkling, emication, scintillation, flash, blaze, coruscation, fulguration, flame, lightning, levin, ignis fatuus, luster, sheen, shimmer, reflexion, reflection, gloss, tinsel, spangle, brightness, brilliancy, splendor, effulgence, refulgence, fulgor, fulgidity, dazzlement, resplendence, transplendency, luminousness, luminosity, lucidity, renitency, nitency, radiance, radiation, irradiation, illumination, actinic rays, actinism, Roentgen-ray, Xray, photography, heliography, photometer, optics, photology, photometry, dioptrics, catoptrics, chiaroscuro, clairobscur, clear obscure, breadth, light and shade, black and white, tonality, reflection, refraction, dispersion, refractivity, shining, luminous, luminiferous, lucid, lucent, luculent, lucific, luciferous, light, lightsome, bright, vivid, splendent, nitid, lustrous, shiny, beamy, scintillant, radiant, lambent, sheen, sheeny, glossy, burnished, glassy, sunny, orient, meridian, noonday, tide, cloudless, clear, unclouded, unobscured, gairish, garish, resplendent, transplendent, refulgent, effulgent, fulgid, fulgent, relucent, splendid, blazing, in a blaze, ablaze, rutilant, meteoric, phosphorescent, aglow, bright as silver, light as day, bright as day, light as noonday, bright as noonday, bright as the sun at noonday, actinic, photogenic, graphic, heliographic, heliophagous, a day for gods to stoop and men to soar, dark with excessive bright.

Luminary

N luminary, light, flame, spark, scintilla, phosphorescence, fluorescence, sun, orb of day, Phoebus, Apollo, Aurora, star, orb, meteor, falling star, shooting star, blazing star, dog star, Sirius, canicula, Aldebaran, constellation, galaxy, zodiacal light, anthelion, day star, morning star, Lucifer, mock sun, parhelion, phosphor, phosphorus, sun dog, Venus, aurora, polar lights, northern lights, aurora borealis, southern lights, aurora australis, lightning, chain lightning, fork lightning, sheet lightning, summer lightning, ball lightning, kugelblitz, phosphorus, yellow phosphorus, scintillator, phosphor, firefly luminescence, ignis fatuus, Jack o'lantern, Friar's lantern, will-o'-the- wisp, firedrake, Fata Morgana, Saint Elmo's fire, glowworm, firefly, June bug, lightning bug, anglerfish, gas, gas light, lime light, lantern, lanthorn, dark lantern, bull's-eye, candle, bougie, taper, rushlight, oil, wick, burner, Argand, moderator, duplex, torch, flambeau, link, brand, gaselier, chandelier, electrolier, candelabrum, candelabra, girandole, sconce, luster, candlestick, lamp, light, incandescent lamp, tungsten bulb, light bulb, flashlight, torch, arc light, laser, maser neon bulb, neon sign, fluorescent lamp, filament, socket, contacts, filler gas, firework, fizgig, pyrotechnics, rocket, lighthouse, self-luminous, glowing, phosphoric, phosphorescent, fluorescent, incandescent, luminescent, chemiluminescent, radiant, blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels, the sentinel stars set their watch in the sky, the planets in their station list'ning stood, the Scriptures of the skies, that orbed continent, the fire that severs day from night.