I. spark 1 /spɑːk $ spɑːrk/ BrE AmE noun
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: spearca ]
1 . FIRE [countable] a very small piece of burning material produced by a fire or by hitting or rubbing two hard objects together:
sparks from the fire
The scrape of metal on metal sent up a shower of sparks.
2 . ELECTRICITY [countable] a flash of light caused by electricity passing across a space:
electric sparks from a broken wire
3 . spark of interest/excitement/anger etc a small amount of a feeling or quality:
Rachel looked at her and felt a spark of hope.
4 . CAUSE [countable] a small action or event that causes something to happen, especially trouble or violence:
The judge’s verdict provided the spark for the riots.
Interest rate cuts were the spark the market needed.
5 . INTELLIGENCE/ENERGY [uncountable] a quality of intelligence or energy that makes someone successful or fun to be with:
She was tired, and lacked her usual spark.
McKellen’s performance gives the play its spark of life (=quality of energy) .
6 . sparks [plural] anger or angry arguments:
The sparks were really flying (=people were arguing angrily) at the meeting!
⇨ bright spark at ↑ bright (10)
II. spark 2 BrE AmE verb
1 . [transitive] ( also spark something ↔ off ) to be the cause of something, especially trouble or violence SYN provoke :
The police response sparked outrage in the community.
A discarded cigarette sparked a small brush fire.
2 . spark sb’s interest/hope/curiosity etc to make someone feel interested, hopeful etc:
topics that spark children’s imaginations
3 . [intransitive] to produce sparks of fire or electricity