spark

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun An elegantly dressed, highly self-conscious young man.
• noun A male suitor; a beau.
• intransitive verb To court or woo.
• intransitive verb To court a woman or women.
• noun An incandescent particle, especially.
• noun One thrown off from a burning substance.
• noun One resulting from friction.
• noun One remaining in an otherwise extinguished fire; an ember.
• noun A glistening particle, as of metal.
• noun A flash of light, especially a flash produced by electric discharge.
• noun A short pulse or flow of electric current.
• noun A trace or suggestion, as.
• noun A quality or feeling with latent potential; a seed or germ.
• noun A vital, animating, or activating factor.
• noun Informal A radio operator aboard a ship.
• noun The luminous phenomenon resulting from a disruptive discharge through an insulating material.
• noun The discharge itself.
• intransitive verb To give off sparks.
• intransitive verb To operate correctly. Used of the ignition system of an internal-combustion engine.
• intransitive verb To set in motion; activate.
• intransitive verb To rouse to action; spur.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun A person of a gay or sprightly character; a gay, lively, showy man (or, rarely, in former use, woman); a “blade” or roysterer.
• noun A lover; a gallant; a beau.
• To emit sparks, as of fire or electricity; sparkle or scintillate.
• In electricity, to produce sparks at points where the continuity of the circuit is interrupted.
• To affect by sparks, as of electricity; act upon by the emission or transmission of sparks.
• To splash with dirt.
• To play the spark or gallant; court.
• To pay attention to, especially with a view to marriage; court; play the gallant to, in a general sense: as, he is parking Miss Doe; to spark a girl home.
• noun A particle of ignited substance emitted from a body in combustion; a fiery particle thrown off by burning wood, iron, powder, or other substance.
• noun Hence A scintillating or flying emanation, literally or figuratively; anything resembling a spark of fire: as, sparks from a gem; a spark of wit.
• noun A small diamond used with many others to form a setting or frame, as to a cameo or a miniature painting; also, a distinct crystal of diamond with the natural curved edges, suitable for glaziers' use.
• noun A separate bit or particle of fire or burning matter in an otherwise inert body or mass; hence, a bit of anything, material or immaterial, comparable to this in its nuclear character or possible extension of activity.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• intransitive verb To play the spark, beau, or lover.
• intransitive verb obsolete To sparkle.
• intransitive verb (Elec.) To produce, or give off, sparks, as a dynamo at the commutator when revolving under the collecting brushes.
• noun A brisk, showy, gay man.
• noun A lover; a gallant; a beau.
• noun A small particle of fire or ignited substance which is emitted by a body in combustion.
• noun A small, shining body, or transient light; a sparkle.
• noun That which, like a spark, may be kindled into a flame, or into action; a feeble germ; an elementary principle.
• noun [U.S.] a contrivance to prevent the escape of sparks while it allows the passage of gas, -- chiefly used in the smokestack of a wood-burning locomotive. Called also spark consumer.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun A small particle of glowing matter, either molten or on fire.
• noun A short or small burst of electrical discharge.
• noun figuratively A small amount of something, such as an idea, that has the potential to become something greater, just as a spark can start a fire.
• noun A ship's radio operator.
• noun UK, slang An electrician.
• verb transitive To trigger, kindle into activity (an argument, etc).