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Sparkling vs Lightning - What's the difference?

sparkling | lightning |

As verbs the difference between sparkling and lightning

is that sparkling is present participle of lang=en while lightning is to produce lightning.

As adjectives the difference between sparkling and lightning

is that sparkling is of an object, reflecting light as if giving off tiny sparks while lightning is extremely fast or sudden.

As nouns the difference between sparkling and lightning

is that sparkling is act or appearance of something that sparkles; a sparkle; a gleam while lightning is a flash of light produced by short-duration, high-voltage discharge of electricity within a cloud, between clouds, or between a cloud and the earth.

sparkling

English

Verb

(head)
  • Adjective

    (-)
  • Of an object, reflecting light as if giving off tiny sparks.
  • Of a beverage, especially an alcoholic beverage, containing dissolved carbon dioxide (either naturally or that has been added) that comes out of solution in the form of many tiny bubbles.
  • Brilliant and vivacious.
  • * '>citation
  • Synonyms

    * glistening, twinkling * (of a beverage) fizzy, carbonated

    Antonyms

    * (of a beverage) noncarbonated, still

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Act or appearance of something that sparkles; a sparkle; a gleam.
  • * Nathaniel John Hollingsworth
  • Bright are the sparklings that beam from the dew.
  • A sparkling wine.
  • * 2011 , Michael Cooper, 100 Must-try New Zealand Wines (page 208)
  • Wines like this struggle to stand out on the show circuit, where the judges are more likely to be searching for sparklings designed in the classic Champagne mould.

    lightning

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • A flash of light produced by short-duration, high-voltage discharge of electricity within a cloud, between clouds, or between a cloud and the earth.
  • Although we did not see the lightning , we did hear the thunder.
  • * 1901 , E. L. Morris, The Child's Eden , page 16:
  • It was the thought of hot July and August days, when the clouds piled up like woolly mountains, and lightnings streaked the sky.
  • A discharge of this kind.
  • The lightning was hot enough to melt the sand.
    That tree was hit by lightning .
  • * 1881 , Daniel Pierce Thompson, The Green Mountain Boys , page 281:
  • The rain at length ceased; and the lightnings , as they played along the black parapet of clouds, that lay piled in the east, shone with less dazzling fierceness,
  • (figuratively) Anything that moves very fast.
  • * 1918 , (Edgar Rice Burroughs), , chapter V:
  • Nobs, though, was lightning by comparison with the slow thinking beast and dodged his opponent's thrust with ease. Then he raced to the rear of the tremendous thing and seized it by the tail.
  • The act of making bright, or the state of being made bright; enlightenment; brightening, as of the mental powers.
  • (Webster 1913)

    Quotations

    * 2008 , Kathy Clark, Stand By Your Man , page 280: *: Manny drove a few miles per hour under the speed limit, entranced by the awesome display of lightning streaking out of the clouds toward earth.

    Derived terms

    * ball lightning * Jewish lightning * greased lightning * lightning bug * lightning bolt * lightning conductor * lightning detector * lightning in a bottle * lightning rod * sheet lightning * upward lightning

    Coordinate terms

    * thunderbolt

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Extremely fast or sudden.
  • Moving at the speed of lightning.
  • Verb

    (en verb)
  • (impersonal, childish, or, nonstandard) To produce lightning.
  • * 1916 , Dorothy Canfield Fisher, Understood Betsy
  • Or if it thundered and lightninged , Aunt Frances always dropped everything she might be doing and held Elizabeth Ann tightly in her arms until it was all over.
  • * 1968 , Dan Greenburg, Chewsday: a sex novel
  • The next day, though it is not only raining but thundering and lightninging as well, antiquing is seen by three-fourths of those present as a lesser evil than free play.
  • * 1987 , Tricia Springstubb, Eunice Gottlieb and the unwhitewashed truth about life
  • "Hey!" yelled Reggie, pulling her back. "Get in here! It's lightninging . I don't want a charcoal-broiled friend!"
  • * 1988 , Carlo Collodi, Roberto Innocenti, The adventures of Pinocchio
  • I don't know, Father, but believe me, it has been a horrible night — one that I'll never forget. It thundered and lightninged , and I was very hungry.

    Usage notes

    * bolt, flash, strike are some of the words used to count lightning. * The standard, but rare, verb for "lightning occurs" is lighten, used only in the impersonal form "it lightens", or as "it’s lightening".