I. noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a spark of originality (= a small amount of originality )
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The show at least has a spark of originality, something that most TV programs seem to lack.
cause/provoke/spark unrest
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The introduction of new working practices provoked severe industrial unrest.
lead to/spark (off) protests (= cause them )
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The arrests sparked off violent street protests.
provoke/spark a demonstration (= cause it )
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The incident sparked a demonstration of 2,000 people.
provoke/spark off an incident (= cause it to happen suddenly )
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It is claimed that the police provoked the incident.
provoke/spark/raise a storm (= make it start )
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This decision provoked a storm of protest from civil rights organizations.
provoke/spark/trigger debate (= cause a debate to start )
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The episode provoked fierce debate about freedom of speech.
shower of sparks
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Peter kicked the fire and sent up a shower of sparks .
spark off a riot (= make it start )
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The incident sparked off a riot which lasted for three days.
spark (off) controversy (= cause it )
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The new rules are likely to spark more controversy.
spark plug
sparking plug
trigger/spark a boom (= start it )
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The lower interest rates triggered an economic boom.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
bright
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Here, some bright spark thought Windsor Castle was on fire and called the fire brigade!
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Quo and Maiden are in the lead but a few bright sparks voted for Saxon.
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Some academics try to counteract this trend by trying to identify the bright sparks and arrange special seminars for them.
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The growers appeared to be facing ruin until one bright spark hit on an idea.
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She watched the bright spark of the spear approaching, and felt nothing but a dull kind of relief.
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I should have realised that genius, as some bright spark in the office said, has a lot to do with genes.
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Too many bright sparks have been lost to Britain in the past.
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It didn't take long for some bright spark to try out the Doom Diver Catapult in a battle.
tiny
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But as she looked at him, a tiny spark of anger flared within her.
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They came to life with fury, throwing tiny sparks and sinking into red rigidity under the Pyrex laboratory flask.
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The cable fizzed and crackled against the wet earth, glittering with tiny blue sparks .
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She sat crumbling pastry in her pink gloves and the wind blew ash and tiny sparks from her cigarette.
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A tiny spark for a vast conflagration.
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Again, the tiny spark blinked out.
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Begun the hatred that swelled the tiny spark of life that had escaped from the meteorite and become the Worm?
■ VERB
ignite
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The preacher's trust ignited a spark inside of me.
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A house in Azusa was charred to a shell after a tree fell across power lines and ignited sparks on the roof.
lack
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Uninteresting and uninterested, goes the myth, they lack creative spark and entrepreneurial vision.
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There is much of interest here, but the performance lacks a certain spark .
strike
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It struck sparks , flint against steel, from the bright fighting trim of his mercenaries.
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Hennepin and La Salle, whose subsequent westward expedition he was to join, struck sparks off one another from the outset.
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It must crash and strike sparks above them.
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It is inevitable that a campaign that strikes few sparks be followed by a lackluster swearing-in.
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We sparkled with energy, but I struck few sparks .
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
bright spark
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Here, some bright spark thought Windsor Castle was on fire and called the fire brigade!
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I should have realised that genius, as some bright spark in the office said, has a lot to do with genes.
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It didn't take long for some bright spark to try out the Doom Diver Catapult in a battle.
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Quo and Maiden are in the lead but a few bright sparks voted for Saxon.
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She watched the bright spark of the spear approaching, and felt nothing but a dull kind of relief.
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Some academics try to counteract this trend by trying to identify the bright sparks and arrange special seminars for them.
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The growers appeared to be facing ruin until one bright spark hit on an idea.
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Too many bright sparks have been lost to Britain in the past.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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A spark created by loose wires was the cause of the explosion.
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A single spark could set the whole hillside on fire.
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Jim is a really nice guy, but there's just no spark .
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Tax cuts could be the spark for the troubled economy.
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Turner provided the team the spark they needed in the second half.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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Even so, the game does have that spark of playability.
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Hennepin and La Salle, whose subsequent westward expedition he was to join, struck sparks off one another from the outset.
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If that spark is to grow, wood must be added to make the flame grow bigger.
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Rather than perfection, Anderson seeks the spark usually delivered on the first two takes of a song.
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Such is the spark of creativity generated by the presence of a member of the executive committee demanding to be asked questions.
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Torrents of sparks cascaded behind them into the harbor.
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When the spark died, the economy declined, and so did the quality of art.
II. verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
off
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Their keen intellects and powerful personalities could spark off more than just brilliant ideas at times.
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An incautious word, I felt, could spark off resentment.
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The Confessor's death in January 1066 sparked off a crisis.
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Unofficial reports said that the incident might have been sparked off by a dispute over permission to build a mosque.
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Most new users remark on this-and the fact that email often seems to spark off a surprising intimacy.
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The murder could have been sparked off by a minor row leading to a slap or punch.
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It was this which sparked off the strike.
■ NOUN
controversy
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But his romance with Karen has sparked controversy .
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Independent councillor Derek McVickers sparked controversy when he said he understood Albert Dryden's frustration at planning decisions.
crisis
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The Confessor's death in January 1066 sparked off a crisis .
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If team performances slumped, as they did in 1910-11, attendances fell disastrously, sparking off a financial crisis .
debate
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This idea sparked off a debate that still continues.
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The arrival of the census form routinely sparks a bad-tempered debate about intrusiveness and unreasonable authority.
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It also sparked debate over the treatment of animals in science.
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The report sparked the first nationwide debate over whether low-calorie dieting was now outmoded.
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The controversies surrounding severe mental handicap which began in the early 1980s sparked off a national debate which continues today.
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The painting sparked a debate that finally led to Gross appearing in court last March.
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Attrition rates, for tanks and aircraft increased greatly, sparking off a debate about the implication of the new technologies.
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Putnam's article sparked enormous debate and soul-searching.
fire
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The explosion sparked a fire which caused serious damage to their flat above a shop in Pensby, Wirral.
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The California Department of Forestry said the crash sparked a small brush fire that was quickly extinguished.
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And the freak conditions sparking these fires have been replicated this year all over the country.
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The reality is, black R &038; B and blues was the instigator that sparked this whole fire .
interest
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Catch their interest and spark their enthusiasm so that they begin to see the product's potential.
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Low interest rates tend to spark economic growth, which ultimately causes interest rates to rise again.
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His renewed interest sparked a Christmas morning argument.
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We were praying that the interest would be sparked .
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Interests Most of us recognize the power of our interests to spark efficient learning.
protest
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A shift of power curbing the influence of town halls would spark a storm of protest around the country.
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The move had sparked violent protests among students, parents and teachers, resulting in seven injuries and ten arrests.
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Le Pen sparked protests when he recently flew to Britain at the invitation of the right-wing Western Goals group.
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He sparked furious protests when he awarded the visitors a free kick for offside.
rally
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The action sparked a rally in bond prices and the Dow Jones closed 14.96 up at 2597.13..
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On Wall Street, across-the-board buying in the oil sector sparked a rally .
reaction
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But the prospect of having to foot another bill for Aryanised assets has sparked some ugly reactions .
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His answer sparked a chain reaction that led, almost forty years after the article was published, to the Macintosh computer.
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A spokesman said controversial stories about top people normally sparked a lot of reaction .
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It was frustration which sparked Foster's amazing reaction at Old Trafford last Thursday.
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That act, after all the histrionics from his team-mates in this series, sparked off an ugly reaction .
riot
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The acquittal, however, did not spark riots , as had the King case.
row
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He then sparked off a row by suggesting that floating voters should stay in bed on polling day.
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This sparked a row with his parents and he stormed out of their home and drove off.
war
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With the migrations sparked by the war , Watts became a primarily black city.
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If Nintendo prices the 64-bit machine even more aggressively, it could spark a war that would benefit consumers.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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Faulty wiring could have sparked the explosion.
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The shootings have sparked a national debate over gun control.
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USC was sparked by the aggressive play of Rich Jackson.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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But a visit to a local physician for a routine checkup sparked a new focus for her creative talents.
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Catch their interest and spark their enthusiasm so that they begin to see the product's potential.
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Héloïse thought that perhaps it was Mr Farraline's interest in Sophie which had sparked it all off.
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It had been his lips - her lips for him - that had sparked the sudden flame.
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That experience sparked a gathering of works by more than 200 artists exploring the human experience of death and loss.
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The chain of events I sparked off nearly led to my untimely demise.
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The Confessor's death in January 1066 sparked off a crisis.
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The controversies surrounding severe mental handicap which began in the early 1980s sparked off a national debate which continues today.