"spark up" meaning in English

See spark up in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Forms: sparks up [present, singular, third-person], sparking up [participle, present], sparked up [participle, past], sparked up [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} spark up (third-person singular simple present sparks up, present participle sparking up, simple past and past participle sparked up)
  1. (transitive) to rekindle Tags: transitive
    Sense id: en-spark_up-en-verb-mbZQSavi
  2. (transitive) to make more exotic or fun Tags: transitive Synonyms (make more exotic or fun): sex up, spice up
    Sense id: en-spark_up-en-verb-VCYhBLG5 Disambiguation of 'make more exotic or fun': 1 94 2 2 1
  3. (intransitive) To light up; light a cigarette or start smoking a pipe, bong, etc. Tags: intransitive Synonyms (light a cigarette): light up
    Sense id: en-spark_up-en-verb-bbFmoYUQ Disambiguation of 'light a cigarette': 0 0 100 0 0
  4. (transitive) To initiate (a conversation, debate etc.) Tags: transitive Synonyms (initiate): strike up
    Sense id: en-spark_up-en-verb-iGb~DQQI Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English phrasal verbs with particle (up) Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 6 16 14 56 8 Disambiguation of English phrasal verbs with particle (up): 7 14 26 43 10 Disambiguation of 'initiate': 4 4 13 77 3
  5. (informal, of a railway) To provide electrification. Tags: informal
    Sense id: en-spark_up-en-verb-fU3KeW~K

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for spark up meaning in English (2.9kB)

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "sparks up",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "sparking up",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "sparked up",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "sparked up",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "spark up (third-person singular simple present sparks up, present participle sparking up, simple past and past participle sparked up)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "to rekindle"
      ],
      "id": "en-spark_up-en-verb-mbZQSavi",
      "links": [
        [
          "rekindle",
          "rekindle"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) to rekindle"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "to make more exotic or fun"
      ],
      "id": "en-spark_up-en-verb-VCYhBLG5",
      "links": [
        [
          "exotic",
          "exotic"
        ],
        [
          "fun",
          "fun"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) to make more exotic or fun"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "1 94 2 2 1",
          "sense": "make more exotic or fun",
          "word": "sex up"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "1 94 2 2 1",
          "sense": "make more exotic or fun",
          "word": "spice up"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "To light up; light a cigarette or start smoking a pipe, bong, etc."
      ],
      "id": "en-spark_up-en-verb-bbFmoYUQ",
      "links": [
        [
          "light up",
          "light up"
        ],
        [
          "pipe",
          "pipe"
        ],
        [
          "bong",
          "bong"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive) To light up; light a cigarette or start smoking a pipe, bong, etc."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "0 0 100 0 0",
          "sense": "light a cigarette",
          "word": "light up"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "6 16 14 56 8",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "7 14 26 43 10",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English phrasal verbs with particle (up)",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To initiate (a conversation, debate etc.)"
      ],
      "id": "en-spark_up-en-verb-iGb~DQQI",
      "links": [
        [
          "initiate",
          "initiate"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To initiate (a conversation, debate etc.)"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "4 4 13 77 3",
          "sense": "initiate",
          "word": "strike up"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2021 April 7, Christian Wolmar, “Electrification is a given... but comfort matters as well”, in RAIL, number 928, page 47",
          "text": "Again, to go back to the history of British Railways, there were moves to introduce electrification more widely when the West Coast Main Line was sparked up in the 1960s, but this was rejected by dyed-in-the-wool old regional railway managers who did not like the hassle of putting up the wires.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To provide electrification."
      ],
      "id": "en-spark_up-en-verb-fU3KeW~K",
      "links": [
        [
          "electrification",
          "electrification"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal, of a railway) To provide electrification."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "of a railway"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "spark up"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English phrasal verbs",
    "English phrasal verbs with particle (up)",
    "English verbs"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "sparks up",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "sparking up",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "sparked up",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "sparked up",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "spark up (third-person singular simple present sparks up, present participle sparking up, simple past and past participle sparked up)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "to rekindle"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "rekindle",
          "rekindle"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) to rekindle"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "to make more exotic or fun"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "exotic",
          "exotic"
        ],
        [
          "fun",
          "fun"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) to make more exotic or fun"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English intransitive verbs"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To light up; light a cigarette or start smoking a pipe, bong, etc."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "light up",
          "light up"
        ],
        [
          "pipe",
          "pipe"
        ],
        [
          "bong",
          "bong"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive) To light up; light a cigarette or start smoking a pipe, bong, etc."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To initiate (a conversation, debate etc.)"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "initiate",
          "initiate"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To initiate (a conversation, debate etc.)"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2021 April 7, Christian Wolmar, “Electrification is a given... but comfort matters as well”, in RAIL, number 928, page 47",
          "text": "Again, to go back to the history of British Railways, there were moves to introduce electrification more widely when the West Coast Main Line was sparked up in the 1960s, but this was rejected by dyed-in-the-wool old regional railway managers who did not like the hassle of putting up the wires.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To provide electrification."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "electrification",
          "electrification"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal, of a railway) To provide electrification."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "of a railway"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "sense": "make more exotic or fun",
      "word": "sex up"
    },
    {
      "sense": "make more exotic or fun",
      "word": "spice up"
    },
    {
      "sense": "light a cigarette",
      "word": "light up"
    },
    {
      "sense": "initiate",
      "word": "strike up"
    }
  ],
  "word": "spark up"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-05 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.