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Spark vs Dash - What's the difference?

spark | dash | Related terms |

In transitive terms the difference between spark and dash

is that spark is to trigger, kindle into activity (an argument, etc) while dash is to complete hastily, usually with down or off.

In intransitive terms the difference between spark and dash

is that spark is to give off a spark or sparks while dash is to run quickly or for a short distance.

As an interjection dash is

damn.

spark

English

(wikipedia spark)

Etymology 1

From Middle English sparke, sperke, from Old English spearca, from (etyl) ).

Noun

(en noun)
  • A small particle of glowing matter, either molten or on fire.
  • A short or small burst of electrical discharge.
  • A small, shining body, or transient light; a sparkle.
  • (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.
  • * Shakespeare
    • if any spark of life be yet remaining
  • * John Locke
    • We have here and there a little clear light, some sparks of bright knowledge .
  • * 2013 , Phil McNulty, "[http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23830980]", BBC Sport , 1 September 2013:
    • Everton's Marouane Fellaini looks one certain arrival but Moyes, who also saw United held to a draw by Chelsea at Old Trafford on Monday, needs even more of a spark in a midfield that looked laboured by this team's standards.
  • (in plural'' sparks ''but treated as a singular ) A ship's radio operator.
  • (UK, slang) An electrician.
    • Synonyms
    * gnast * beginnings, germ, glimmer
    Derived terms
    * sparkle * bright spark * spark arrester * spark coil * spark gap * spark knock * spark of life * spark plug * spark transmitter * sparks fly

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To trigger, kindle into activity (an argument, etc).
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2012 , date=May 5 , author=Phil McNulty , title=Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=The introduction of substitute Andy Carroll sparked Liverpool into life and he pulled a goal back just after the hour - and thought he had equalised as Kenny Dalglish's side laid siege to Chelsea's goal in the closing stages.}}
  • To give off a spark or sparks.
    • Derived terms
    * spark off * sparkle

    Etymology 2

    probably Scandinavian, akin to (etyl) sparkr 'sprightly'

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A gallant, a foppish young man.
  • * Prior
    • The finest sparks and cleanest beaux.
  • A beau, lover.

    • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To woo, court.

    • Derived terms

    * sparkish * sparker

    References

    *

    Anagrams

    * ----

    dash

    English

    Noun

    (es)
  • (typography) Any of the following symbols: (''horizontal bar ).
    • sometimes dash'' is also used colloquially to refer to a ''hyphen'' or ''minus sign .
  • A short run.
  • A small quantity of a liquid substance; less than 1/8 of a teaspoon.
    • Add a dash of vinegar
  • Vigor.
    • Aren't we full of dash this morning?
  • A dashboard.
  • * 1955 , edition, ISBN 0553249592, page 31:
    • The dash clock said 2:38 when.
  • One of the two symbols of Morse code.
  • (Nigeria) A bribe or gratuity.
  • * 1992 , George B. N. Ayittey, Africa betrayed (page 44)
    • The traditional practice of offering gifts or "dash " to chiefs has often been misinterpreted by scholars to provide a cultural explanation for the pervasive incidence of bribery and corruption in modern Africa.
  • * 2006 , Adiele Eberechukwu Afigbo, The Abolition of the Slave Trade in Southeastern Nigeria, 1885-1950 (page 99)
    • Writing in 1924 on a similar situation in Ugep, the political officer, Mr. S. T. Harvey noted: "In the old days there was no specified dowry but merely dashes given to the father-in-law
  • * 2008 , Lizzie Williams, Nigeria: The Bradt Travel Guide (page 84)
    • The only other times you'll be asked for a dash is from beggars.
  • (obsolete, euphemistic) A stand-in for a censored word, like "Devil" or "damn". (Compare deuce.)
  • * 1824 , "Kiddywinkle History, No. II", Blackwood's Magazine (15, May 1824) p. 540
    • I'll be dashed if I gan another step for less 'an oaf.
  • * 1853 , (William Makepeace Thackery), (The Newcomes)'', Chapter VI, serialized in ''Harper's New Monthly Magazine , (VIII, no. 43, Dec 1853) p. 118
    • Sir Thomas looks as if to ask what the dash is that to you! but wanting still to go to India again, and knowing how strong the Newcomes are in Leadenhall Street, he thinks it necessary to be civil to the young cub, and swallows his pride once more into his waistband.
  • *:Comment : Some editions leave this passage out. Of those that include it, some change the 'you!' to 'you?'.
  • * 1884 , (Lord Robert Gower), My Reminiscences'', reprinted in "The Evening Lamp", ''The Christian Union , (29) 22, (May 29, 1884) p. 524
    • Who the dash' is this person whom none of us know? and what the ' dash does he do here?
  • * 1939 , , (Uncle Fred in the Springtime) Chapter 8
    • I'll be dashed if I squash in with any domestic staff.

    Hyponyms

    * See also

    Hypernyms

    * punctuation mark

    Derived terms

    * dashing * dash off * em dash, en dash

    See also

    (punctuation)

    Verb

    (es)
  • To run quickly or for a short distance.
    • He dashed across the field.
  • (informal) To leave or depart.
    • I have to dash now. See you soon.
  • To destroy by striking (against).
    • He dashed the bottle against the bar and turned about to fight.
  • * 1897 , (Bram Stoker), (Dracula) Chapter 21
    • "`Silence! If you make a sound I shall take him and dash his brains out before your very eyes.'
  • * 1912 : (Edgar Rice Burroughs), (Tarzan of the Apes), Chapter 4
    • Kala was the youngest mate of a male called Tublat, meaning broken nose, and the child she had seen dashed to death was her first; for she was but nine or ten years old.
  • To throw violently.
    • The man was dashed from the vehicle during the accident.
  • * Francis Bacon
    • If you dash a stone against a stone in the bottom of the water, it maketh a sound.
  • To sprinkle; to splatter.
  • * Thomson
    • On each hand the gushing waters play, / And down the rough cascade all dashing fall.
  • (of hopes or dreams) To ruin; to destroy.
    • Her hopes were dashed when she saw the damage.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=September 13 , author=Sam Lyon , title=Borussia Dortmund 1 - 1 Arsenal , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=Arsenal's hopes of starting their Champions League campaign with an away win were dashed when substitute Ivan Perisic's superb late volley rescued a point for Borussia Dortmund.}}
  • To dishearten; to sadden.
    • Her thoughts were dashed to melancholy.
  • To complete hastily, usually with down'' or ''off .
    • He dashed''' down his eggs'', ''she '''dashed off her homework
  • To draw quickly; jot.
  • * 1922 , (Virginia Woolf), (w, Jacob's Room) Chapter 1
    • "Scarborough," Mrs. Flanders wrote on the envelope, and dashed a bold line beneath; it was her native town; the hub of the universe.
  • To throw in or on in a rapid, careless manner; to mix, reduce, or adulterate, by throwing in something of an inferior quality; to overspread partially; to bespatter; to touch here and there.
    • to dash''' wine with water; to '''dash paint upon a picture
  • * Addison
    • I take care to dash the character with such particular circumstance as may prevent ill-natured applications.
  • * Tennyson
    • The very source and fount of day / Is dashed with wandering isles of night.

    Interjection

    (en interjection)
  • (euphemistic) Damn!

    • See also

    * hyphen * minus sign

    Anagrams

    * * * ----