spark gap
a space between two electrodes, across which a discharge of electricity may take place.
the electrodes and the space between, considered as a unit: used in ignition systems.
Origin of spark gap
1Words Nearby spark gap
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use spark gap in a sentence
A spark gap in a vacuum, connected with a free end of wire, gave a continuous discharge.
The Home of the Blizzard | Douglas MawsonThe secondary charges a condenser until its potential becomes high enough to produce a discharge across a spark gap, SG.
Physics | Willis Eugene TowerBy lengthening the wires between the spark gap and the camera the light is allowed to arrive first.
Astounding Stories, July, 1931 | VariousAlmost immediately after Dawson disappeared the crash of the spark across the spark-gap and up the wires was heard.
The Motor Boat Club and The Wireless | H. Irving HancockThe crash of his call soon sounded at the spark-gap and quivered on its lightning way up the aerials.
The Motor Boat Club and The Wireless | H. Irving Hancock
British Dictionary definitions for spark gap
the space between two electrodes across which a spark can jump: Sometimes shortened to: gap
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for spark gap
A gap in an otherwise closed electric circuit across which a discharge occurs at a prescribed voltage. The discharge often causes ionization of the surrounding gas and thereby very high temperatures, and can be exploited, as in spark plugs, to ignite engine fuel in a combustion chamber.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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