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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

spark up en · VERB

Meanings

  1. (transitive) To rekindle.
  2. (transitive) To make more exotic or fun.
  3. (intransitive) To light up; light a cigarette or start smoking a pipe, bong, etc.
  4. (slang, transitive) To light a cigarette etc. for (a person).
    • Spark me up, mate.
  5. (transitive) To initiate (a conversation, debate etc.).
  6. (informal, of a railway) To provide electrification.
    • 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. 2021 April 7, Christian Wolmar, “Electrification is a given... but comfort matters as well”, in RAIL, number 928, page 47:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
sparked up Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
sparked up Tense=Past lexicographic
sparks up Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
sparking up Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic

Synonyms

light up (light a cigarette) · sex up (make more exotic or fun) · spice up (make more exotic or fun) · strike up (initiate)