sparking plug


nounBritish.

Origin of sparking plug

1
First recorded in 1900–05

Words Nearby sparking plug

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use sparking plug in a sentence

  • I made sure that the oil was circulating, and cleaned the sparking-plug, but the trouble was not remedied.

    The Home of the Blizzard | Douglas Mawson
  • There was a series of explosions as though the sparking plug of a motor-bicycle was playing tricks.

  • "Not at all," I replied, thinking he wanted to ask the way or borrow a sparking plug—or maybe beg a match.

  • I changed the sparking plug, hoping for better results, but in vain.

  • He called on Lowther to get down, and together the two men began to examine a sparking plug with wholly fictitious energy.

    The Crime Club | William Holt-White

British Dictionary definitions for sparking plug

sparking plug

noun
  1. a device screwed into the cylinder head of an internal-combustion engine to ignite the explosive mixture by means of an electric spark which jumps across a gap between a point earthed to the body of the plug and the tip of a central insulated rod: Also called: spark plug

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012