an ignited or fiery particle such as is thrown off by burning wood or produced by one hard body striking against another.
Also called sparkover. Electricity.
the light produced by a sudden discontinuous discharge of electricity through air or another dielectric.
the discharge itself.
any electric arc of relatively small energy content.
the electric discharge produced by a spark plug in an internal-combustion engine.
anything that activates or stimulates; inspiration or catalyst.
a small amount or trace of something.
a trace of life or vitality.
(used with a singular verb) sparks, a radio operator on a ship or aircraft.
(usually initial capital letter) a member of Camp Fire, Inc., who is five years of age.
to emit or produce sparks.
to issue as or like sparks.
to send forth gleams or flashes.
(of the ignition of an internal-combustion engine) to function correctly in producing sparks.
an elegant or foppish young man.
a beau, lover, or suitor.
a woman of outstanding beauty, charm, or wit.
a fiery particle thrown out or left by burning material or caused by the friction of two hard surfaces
a momentary flash of light accompanied by a sharp crackling noise, produced by a sudden electrical discharge through the air or some other insulating medium between two points
the electrical discharge itself
( as modifier )
a spark gap
anything that serves to animate, kindle, or excite
a trace or hint
she doesn't show a spark of interest
vivacity, enthusiasm, or humour
a small piece of diamond, as used in the cutting of glass
(intr) to give off sparks
(intr) (of the sparking plug or ignition system of an internal-combustion engine) to produce a spark
to kindle, excite, or animate
a fashionable or gallant young man
ironic a person who appears clever or witty
some bright spark left the papers next to the open window
First recorded before 900; Middle English noun spark(e), sparc(k), Old English spearca, spærca, sperca; cognate with Middle Dutch sparcke, spercke, Middle Low German sparke; the verb is derivative of the noun
First recorded in 1575–85; figurative use of spark 1 , or from Old Norse sparkr “quick, lively, brisk”
A spark is a small, glowing particle that's either thrown off of a fire or that starts a fire. Your dad might tell everyone to stand back from the bonfire so they don't get burned by a spark. Sparks are burning fragments that pop up off a fire, but they're also bright flashes, like the sparks of light reflecting off your sunglasses or electrical sparks given off by an engine. Some small thing that promises to grow larger is yet another kind of spark — you might notice a spark of anger within yourself when you see someone being treated unfairly, for example. The word spark comes from the Old English root spearca, "glowing or fiery particle thrown off."
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
As a result, fallow fields are in a "deplorable state, and at the slightest spark, the blaze spreads like wildfire" due to vegetation dried out by the heat.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
When life has lost its spark, who cares if it’s “real” or not?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
For Forest last season, he was a bright spark in a tough campaign, spent mostly fighting relegation.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Chip stocks are red hot again as investors come around to the idea that something once viewed as a threat to the artificial-intelligence trade might actually be a further spark.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
This incident could spark a third world war!
From "The Smartest Kid in the Universe" by Chris Grabenstein
The company’s Muse Spark 1.1 model, its first that claims to provide near-frontier agentic coding capabilities, has been well-received.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026
With her team on board, in February she told Amodei that Spark wanted to lead the round.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
“There is no singular Spark who I wish to depict, nor any one ‘story’ of her wildly varied life that I aim to tell,” Mr. Bailey writes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
In any case, it was only after she converted to Catholicism that Spark wrote “The Comforters.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
We walked out right under the nose of the Spark cousins and you should have seen their freaked-out faces.
From "The London Eye Mystery" by Siobhan Dowd
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
