Adjacent Words

Sparkle definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SP'ARKLE, n.
1. A spark.
2. A luminous particle.
SP'ARKLE, v.i.
1. To emit sparks; to send off small ignited particles; as burning fuel, etc.
2. To glitter; to glisten; as, a brilliant sparkles; sparkling colors.
3. To twinkle; to glitter; as sparkling stars.
4. To glisten; to exhibit an appearance of animation; as, the eyes sparkle with joy.
5. To emit little bubbles, as spirituous liquors; as sparkling wine.
SP'ARKLE, v.i. To throw about; to scatter. [Not in use.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: merriment expressed by a brightness or gleam or animation of countenance; "he had a sparkle in his eye"; "there's a perpetual twinkle in his eyes" [syn: sparkle, twinkle, spark, light]
2: the occurrence of a small flash or spark [syn: glitter, sparkle, coruscation]
3: the quality of shining with a bright reflected light [syn: glitter, glister, glisten, scintillation, sparkle] v
1: reflect brightly; "Unquarried marble sparkled on the hillside" [syn: sparkle, scintillate, coruscate]
2: be lively or brilliant or exhibit virtuosity; "The musical performance sparkled"; "A scintillating conversation"; "his playing coruscated throughout the concert hall" [syn: sparkle, scintillate, coruscate]
3: emit or produce sparks; "A high tension wire, brought down by a storm, can continue to spark" [syn: spark, sparkle]
4: become bubbly or frothy or foaming; "The boiling soup was frothing"; "The river was foaming"; "Sparkling water" [syn: foam, froth, fizz, effervesce, sparkle, form bubbles]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb (sparkled; sparkling) Etymology: Middle English, frequentative of sparken to spark Date: 13th century intransitive verb 1. a. to throw out sparks b. to give off or reflect bright moving points of light c. to perform brilliantly 2. effervesce <wine that sparkles> 3. to become lively or animated <the dialogue sparkles with wit> <eyes sparkling with anger> transitive verb to cause to glitter or shine Synonyms: see flash • sparkly adjective II. noun Etymology: Middle English, diminutive of sparke Date: 14th century 1. a little spark ; scintillation 2. the quality of sparkling 3. a. animation, liveliness b. the quality or state of being effervescent

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v.intr. 1 a emit or seem to emit sparks; glitter; glisten (her eyes sparkled). b be witty; scintillate (sparkling repartee). 2 (of wine etc.) effervesce (cf. STILL(1) adj. 4). --n. a gleam, spark. Derivatives: sparkly adj. Etymology: ME f. SPARK(1) + -LE(4)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sparkle Spar"kle, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Sparkled; p. pr. & vb. n. Sparkling.] [See Sparkle, n., Spark of fire.] 1. To emit sparks; to throw off ignited or incandescent particles; to shine as if throwing off sparks; to emit flashes of light; to scintillate; to twinkle; as, the blazing wood sparkles; the stars sparkle. A mantelet upon his shoulder hanging Bretful of rubies red, as fire sparkling. --Chaucer. 2. To manifest itself by, or as if by, emitting sparks; to glisten; to flash. I see bright honor sparkle through your eyes. --Milton. 3. To emit little bubbles, as certain kinds of liquors; to effervesce; as, sparkling wine. Syn: To shine; glisten; scintillate; radiate; coruscate; glitter; twinkle.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sparkle Spar"kle, n. [Dim. of spark.] 1. A little spark; a scintillation. As fire is wont to quicken and go From a sparkle sprungen amiss, Till a city brent up is. --Chaucer. The shock was sufficiently strong to strike out some sparkles of his fiery temper. --Prescott. 2. Brilliancy; luster; as, the sparkle of a diamond.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sparkle Spar"kle, v. t. To emit in the form or likeness of sparks. ``Did sparkle forth great light.'' --Spenser.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sparkle Spar"kle, v. t. [Cf. Sparble.] 1. To disperse. [Obs.] The Landgrave hath sparkled his army without any further enterprise. --State Papers. 2. To scatter on or over. [Obs.] --Purchas.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(sparkles, sparkling, sparkled) 1. If something sparkles, it is clear and bright and shines with a lot of very small points of light. The jewels on her fingers sparkled... His bright eyes sparkled. ...the sparkling blue waters of the ocean. = glitter VERB: V, V, V-ing • Sparkle is also a noun. ...the sparkle of coloured glass. 2. Sparkles are small points of light caused by light reflecting off a clear bright surface. ...sparkles of light... There was a sparkle in her eye that could not be hidden. N-COUNT 3. Someone who sparkles is lively, intelligent, and witty. She sparkles, and has as much zest as a person half her age... VERB: V [approval] • Sparkle is also a noun. There was little sparkle in their performance. • sparkling He is sparkling and versatile in front of the camera. ADJ 4. see also sparkling

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. n. 1. Shine (with intermissions), glitter, glisten, glister, twinkle, scintillate, coruscate, flash, radiate, gleam. 2. Effervesce, bubble, foam, froth. II. n. 1. Spark, scintillation. 2. Luminosity, lustre.

Moby Thesaurus

animation, be brilliant, be merry with, beam, blaze, blink, blinking, blubber, boil, boil over, boiling, brightness, brilliance, bubble, bubble over, bubble up, bubbliness, bubbling, burble, burn, caper, caracole, carbonation, cheer, cheerfulness, chirp, chirrup, coruscate, coruscation, crack a joke, crack wise, dance, dash, dazzle, ebullience, ebulliency, ebullition, effervesce, effervescence, effervescency, elan, energy, excitement, ferment, fermentation, fire, firefly, fizz, fizzle, flame, flash, fleer at, flicker, foaming, frolic, frothiness, frothing, fun, gaiety, gambol, gibe at, glance, gleam, glimmer, glimmering, glint, glisk, glisten, glister, glitter, glittering, glow, glowworm, guggle, gurgle, gusto, hiss, jape, jest, joke, josh, joy, kid, kid around, laugh, life, lilt, liveliness, make a funny, make fun, make fun of, mock, oomph, pep, piquancy, play on words, plop, poignancy, poke fun at, pun, pungency, quip, raciness, radiance, radiate cheer, ridicule, romp, scintilla, scintillate, scintillation, scoff at, seethe, shimmer, shimmering, shine, simmer, sing, skip, smile, spangle, spark, spirit, spumescence, stroboscopic light, tinsel, twinkle, twinkling, utter a mot, verve, vigor, vim, vivacity, vividness, whistle, wink, wisecrack, wittiness, work, zeal, zing, zip