Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Spark

Spark (spärk), n. [OE. sparke, AS. spearca; akin to D. spark, sperk; cf. Icel. spraka to crackle, Lith. spragëti, Gr. σφάραγος a bursting with a noise, Skr. sphūrj to crackle, to thunder. Cf. Speak.] 1. A small particle of fire or ignited substance which is emitted by a body in combustion.

Man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward. Job v. 7.

2. A small, shining body, or transient light; a sparkle.

3. That which, like a spark, may be kindled into a flame, or into action; a feeble germ; an elementary principle. "If any spark of life be yet remaining." Shak. "Small intellectual spark." Macaulay. "Vital spark of heavenly flame." Pope.

We have here and there a little clear light, some sparks of bright knowledge. Locke.

Bright gem instinct with music, vocal spark. Wordsworth.

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.] 1. A brisk, showy, gay man.

The finest sparks and cleanest beaux. Prior.

2. A lover; a gallant; a beau.

Spark, v. i. To sparkle. [Obs.] Spenser.

Spark, v. i. To play the spark, beau, or lover.

A sure sign that his master was courting, or, as it is termed, sparking, within. W. Irwing.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.