spark

SPARK/spɑɹk/UKSPAHK/spɑːk/

Verbsparks, sparking, sparked

Noun pluralsparks

15 meanings of spark

Practice

1
triggerverbfigurativelytransitive
To trigger something or stir it into activity, such as an argument or a movement.
The new policy sparked widespread protests across the country.
A single discovery can spark an entire field of research.
UsageCommon with protests, debate and argument: spark a debate; also spark someone into life or into action.
Similartrigger, ignite, provoke, prompt, spur
Oppositequell, stifle, suppress, dampen
Note
The fire image carried over to events: what starts an argument, a protest or a revival is pictured as the spark that sets it alight, a figurative use of the literal 'kindle'. Phil McNulty, reporting for BBC Sport in 2012, has a substitute's arrival spark Liverpool into life.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Phil McNulty wrote the BBC Sport report in 2012. bbc.co.uk
The report describes a substitute's introduction as sparking Liverpool into life. bbc.co.uk
2
seed of feelingnounfigurativelycountable
A small amount of something, such as an idea or affection, that holds the potential to grow into something greater.
A spark of curiosity led her to a lifelong career in science.
The two of them shared a spark that soon turned into love.
UsageUsually a spark of something, a spark of hope or curiosity; between two people, simply a spark.
Similarhint, glimmer, trace, bit, germ
Note
The figure is old and still everyday. Shakespeare writes "if any spark of life be yet remaining" in Henry VI, Part 3. Modern sports writing also uses it alone to mean drive or liveliness. Phil McNulty's 2013 BBC Sport report says Manchester United's manager "needs even more of a spark" in midfield.
3
bit of firenouncountable
A tiny burning particle or brief flash of light thrown off by fire, friction, or an electrical discharge across a gap.
The faulty switch produced a spark each time it was flipped.
A bright spark arced between the electrodes during the test.
4
start a fireverbtransitive
To set something alight or kindle it, bringing fuel or tinder into flame.
One match can spark a whole bonfire.
A single stray cigarette sparked the fire that burned down the old barn.
Similarignite, light, kindle
Oppositeextinguish, douse, snuff
5
send out flashesverbintransitive
To emit one or more sparks, as from friction or an electrical fault.
The frayed cable sparked dangerously near the fuel tank.
Flint will spark when struck sharply against steel.
Similararc, crackle, flash, sputter
6
tiny lightnouncountable
A tiny glittering object or a flash of light that lasts only a moment.
A spark of sunlight glinted off the diamond ring.
Tiny sparks danced on the water as the sun set.
Similarglint, sparkle, scintillation, scintilla

Less common meanings

7
electrics expertnounslangUKcountable
A British slang word for an electrician, the tradesperson who installs and maintains electrical systems.
On site they always send for the spark when a circuit trips.
Our spark reckoned the wiring needed replacing throughout.
UsageSparky means the same: call in a spark to rewire a flat.
Similarsparky, juicer
Note
Film and video crews use it too. Des Lyver and Graham Swainson's Basics of Video Lighting (1995; second edition 1999) describes rigs run by "gaffers and sparks."
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Des Lyver and Graham Swainson wrote Basics of Video Lighting. books.google.com
The book describes lighting rigs constructed and operated by gaffers and sparks. en.wiktionary.org
8
radio operatornouncolloquial
A ship's radio operator, traditionally nicknamed for the crackle of the wireless set.
Throughout the voyage, Sparks relayed weather reports to the bridge each morning.
When the hull was breached, Sparks stayed at the wireless to transmit the ship's position.
UsageUsed like a name, with a capital, no the and a singular verb: Sparks was at the wireless.
Similarradioman
Note
The name looks back to the spark-gap transmitters of early wireless telegraphy, whose crackle and flash gave the operator his title. It is used in the plural form, Sparks, and often as a nickname in place of the person's real name.
9
nounarchaiccountable
A beau or lover; the sweetheart or romantic suitor that someone is attached to.
Similarlover, beau, suitor, admirer, sweetheart
10
nounarchaiccountable
A gallant or foppish young man, given to fashionable dress and showing off.
The finest sparks and cleanest beaux.
1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Alma: Or, The Progress of the Mind”
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
Similardandy, beau, fop, gallant, blade
Note
It is at home in eighteenth-century writing, as in Fielding's "fine spark" in Tom Jones and Sheridan's "wild a spark" in The School for Scandal.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
Tom Jones supplies an eighteenth-century example. en.wikipedia.org
The School for Scandal also belongs to eighteenth-century writing; its first publication was in that century. openlibrary.org
Henry Fielding's Tom Jones contains 'fine spark'; the petty-fogger uses the phrase when asking Mrs Whitefield about Jones. gutenberg.org
Richard Brinsley Sheridan's The School for Scandal contains 'wild a spark', spoken by Rowley about the brothers' father. gutenberg.org
11
verbarchaicintransitive
To woo or court someone; to play the gallant or attentive suitor.
Similarcourt, woo, romance
Note
A young man sparks, perhaps beneath a window, though older American speech also has him sparking a girl. It is archaic and grows from the gallant noun, so it carries the same air of showy attentiveness.
12
nounobsoleteplural
A diamond, particularly one mounted in a ring, brooch, or other jewelry.
Note
Like much cant, it renames a valuable by what it does. A diamond glitters, so it is a spark, and the talk among thieves and fences stays opaque to outsiders.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
Thieves' cant served to conceal meaning from outsiders. gutenberg.org
13
verbrare
Of a gun, to shoot or fire.
14
noun
In cellular automata, a small cluster of cells that emerges momentarily beside a larger pattern and then disappears.
15
noun
Any of several small lycaenid butterflies belonging to the Indomalayan genus Sinthusa.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of spark apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1–8, 12

From Middle English sparke, from Old English spearca, from Proto-West Germanic *sparkō (compare Dutch spark and German Sparke). It perhaps comes from Proto-Germanic *sparkaz ('lively, energetic'), from a Proto-Indo-European root *sperg- ('to strew, sprinkle'), related to Latin spargō ('to scatter').

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

Spark descends through Middle English sparke and Old English spearca from reconstructed Proto-West Germanic *sparkō. en.wiktionary.org
Dutch spark and German Sparke are comparable related forms. en.wiktionary.org
A proposed deeper derivation connects the word with Proto-Germanic *sparkaz, meaning lively or energetic, and Proto-Indo-European *sperg-, meaning to strew or sprinkle. en.wiktionary.org
The proposed etymology relates spark to Latin spargō, meaning to scatter. en.wiktionary.org

Meanings 9–11

Probably of Scandinavian origin, akin to Old Norse sparkr ('sprightly').

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

The separate word spark meaning a gallant or lover is probably Scandinavian in origin, related to Old Norse sparkr, meaning 'sprightly'. en.wiktionary.org