spark
UK/ˈspɑːk//ˈspɑɹk/
spark noun: a small particle of glowing matter, either molten or on fire, resulting from an electrical surge or excessive heat created by friction.
Noun (1)
spark (plural sparks)
- A small particle of glowing matter, either molten or on fire, resulting from an electrical surge or excessive heat created by friction.
- A short or small burst of electrical discharge.
- A small, shining body, or transient light; a sparkle.
- Synonyms:
- scintilla, scintillation, sparklet, glint, twink
- A small amount of something, such as an idea or romantic affection, that has the potential to become something greater, just as a spark can start a fire.
- if any spark of life be yet remainingc. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
- , Book IV, Chapter XVII
But though we have, here and there, a little of this clear light, some sparks of bright knowledge
- Any of various lycaenid butterflies of the Indomalayan genus Sinthusa.
- A ship's radio operator.
- An electrician.
- At the other extreme, with limitless budgets all they have to do is dream up amazing lighting rigs to be constructed and operated by the huge team of gaffers and sparks, with their generators, discharge lights, flags, gobos and brutes.1999, Des Lyver, Graham Swainson, Basics of Video Lighting, page 103
- A small collection of cells which briefly appears at the edge of a larger pattern before dying off.
- A diamond, especially one set in a piece of jewellery.
Verb (1)
spark (third-person singular simple present sparks, present participle sparking, simple past and past participle sparked)
- To trigger, kindle into activity (an argument, etc).
- The introduction of substitute Andy Carroll sparked Liverpool into life and he pulled a goal back just after the hour - and thought he had equalised as Kenny Dalglish's side laid siege to Chelsea's goal in the closing stages.2012 May 5, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport
- One such investigation described how kindness can be contagious. It was sparked by reports of an outbreak of kindness on a cold December morning in 2012.2025 November 13, Kamala Thiagarajan, “If you're going to be kind to another human, today is the day to do it!”, in NPR
- To light; to kindle.
- Byron sparked the cigarette. He sucked it dramatically and thrust it into Marko's hand.2009, Alex Jenson, The Serotonin Grand Prix, page 12
- To give off a spark or sparks.
- Synonyms:
- scintillate
- To shoot; to fire
- [Streetlife]:Fuck a peace talk, let the gun spark, on the streets of New York.1998 November 10, “Grid Iron Rap” (track 17), in Tical 2000: Judgement Day, performed by Method Man, Streetlife (rapper)
- All of a sudden, everybody tuggin', everybody dark. Everybody gums runnin', 'til the guns spark.2004, “U Ain't A Killer” (track 10), in The War Mixtape, performed by Akala (rapper)
Noun (2)
spark (plural sparks)
- A gallant; a foppish young man.
- The finest sparks and cleanest beaux.1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Alma: Or, The Progress of the Mind”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber […], →OCLC
- Jones had no sooner quitted the room, than the petty-fogger, in a whispering tone, asked Mrs Whitefield, “If she knew who that fine spark was?”1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC
- Synonyms:
- blade, masher, barbermonger, beau, blood, buck, carpet knight, cockscomb, dandy, dike
- A beau, lover.
Verb (2)
spark (third-person singular simple present sparks, present participle sparking, simple past and past participle sparked)
Proper noun capitalized: Spark
Spark
- A surname.
spark meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
spark in Hindi
- particle of glowing matter
- चिंगारी ciṅgārī
spark in Tamil
- particle of glowing matter
- பொறி poṟi, தீப்பொறி tīppoṟi, நெருப்புப்பொறி neruppuppoṟi, அனற்பொறி aṉaṟpoṟi
- burst of electrical discharge
- மின்பொறி miṉpoṟi
spark in Marathi
- स्पार्क
spark in Urdu
- particle of glowing matter
- چِن٘گاری ciṅgārī
More languagesFewer languages
- spark in Bengali
- স্ফুলিঙ্গ sphuliṅgo
- spark in Telugu
- అగ్గినిప్పు agginippu
- spark in Malayalam
- തീപ്പൊരി tīppori
- spark in Kannada
- ಕಿಡಿ, ಬೆಂಕಿಯ ಕಿಡಿ, ಅಗ್ನಿಕಣ, ವಿದ್ಯುತ್ಕಣ
- spark in Punjabi
- ਸਪਾਰਕ, ਸਪਾਰਕ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ
- spark in Gujarati
- ચકમક cakmak
- spark in Odia
- ସ୍ପାର୍କ, ସ୍ପାର୍କ କରିବା ପାଇଁ, ସ୍ପାର୍କ କରିବାକୁ
- spark in Sanskrit
- स्तोक stoká, कण káṇa
- spark in Assamese
- ফিৰিঙটি phiriṅoti
- spark in Nepali
- स्पार्क, स्फर्क, स्पार्क गर्न
- spark in Arabic
- شَرَارَة šarāra
- spark in Malay
- bunga api, percikan
- spark in Thai
- ประกาย bprà-gaai, ลูกไฟ lûuk-fai
- spark in Vietnamese
- tia lửa, tia lửa điện
- spark in Myanmar
- မီးပွား mi:pwa:
Examples of spark in a sentence
- When the latter disk showed some sparks, Moman contacted MGM's Jim Vienneau, who picked up the waxing for national release.1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, →ISBN, page 173:
- But even among these, one particular tip would spark the police force’s interest.2026 August 24, Sthitapragya Chakraborty, “Leah Roberts, 23, Disappeared on a Kerouac-Inspired Road Trip in 2000. Her Jeep Was Found...
- Guns spark in the dark, it was all just a part of the eighties Bronx scene that created all.2022 February 22, “Raw Hip Hop” (track 2), in IMAMCRU12, performed by KRS-One:
- He will retrieve his errors yet—their worthy Father, once my honour'd master, was at his years nearly as wild a spark.1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, I.ii:
Synonyms of spark
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of spark
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | sparks |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | sparks |
| present participle | sparking |
| past participle | sparked |
| past | sparked |
Origin of spark
From Middle English sparke, sperke, from Old English spearca, from Proto-West Germanic *sparkō (compare Saterland Frisian Spoorke, West Frisian spark, Dutch spark, German Low German Sparke, German Sparke), perhaps from Proto-Germanic *sparkaz (“lively, energetic”), from Proto-Indo-European *sperg- (“to strew, sprinkle”) (compare Breton erc’h (“snow”), Latin spargō (“to scatter, spread”), sparsus (“scattered”), Lithuanian sprógti (“to germinate”), Ancient Greek σπαργάω (spargáō, “to swell”), Avestan 𐬟𐬭𐬀𐬯𐬞𐬀𐬭𐬈𐬔𐬀 (frasparega, “branch, twig”), Sanskrit पर्जन्य (parjanya, “rain, rain god”)).
Probably Scandinavian, akin to Old Norse sparkr (“sprightly”).
Words formed from spark
- sparker
- sparkish
- Sparkian
- antispark
- belly spark
- bright spark
- jump spark
- macrospark
- microspark
- nanospark
- ocular spark
- spark anglemouth
- spark arrester
- spark arrestor
- spark bird
- spark coil
- sparkful
- spark gap
- sparkie
- spark knock
- sparkler
- sparkless
- sparklike
- sparkline
- spark of life
- spark out
- sparkover
- spark plug
- sparkproof
- sparks fly
- spark spread
- sparktastic
- spark test
- spark testing
- spark transmitter
- sparky
- spunk
- vital spark
- sparkle
- spark up
- respark
- sparkable
- spark off
Phrases with spark
Words that rhyme with spark
28 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about spark
- What does spark mean?
- Spark means a small particle of glowing matter, either molten or on fire, resulting from an electrical surge or excessive heat created by friction.
- What is spark in Hindi?
- Spark in Hindi is चिंगारी (ciṅgārī). See Spark meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use spark in a sentence?
- When the latter disk showed some sparks, Moman contacted MGM's Jim Vienneau, who picked up the waxing for national release.
- What part of speech is spark?
- Spark can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce spark?
- Spark is pronounced /ˈspɑːk/ (UK).
- What is the plural of spark?
- The plural of spark is sparks.
Words near spark in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: spark (page history and authors); Spark (page history and authors); spark (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); అగ్గినిప్పు (Telugu) (page history and authors); spark (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); spark (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ચકમક (Gujarati) (page history and authors); spark (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); कण (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); spark (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-spark.ogg.
Cite this entry: “spark.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/spark. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.