[f. SPARK v.1] The action of emitting sparks; spec. in Electr., the production or emission of electric sparks at points where the continuity of a current is broken or interrupted.
1611. Cotgr., Scintillation, a sparking, or sparkling.
1883. Daily News, 29 Sept., 7/1. It is, perhaps, owing to this arrangement that there is so little sparking to be seen at the brushes of the machine.
1894. Westm. Gaz., 15 Jan., 3/1. None of the electric supply companies can prevent sparking from their cables.
b. attrib., as sparking arrangement, distance, knob, plug, etc.
1881. Nature, No. 624. 572. As soon as the cloud by its motion comes within sparking distance.
1891. Dublin Rev., Oct., 421. The sparking arrangement is placed inside an ordinary projection lantern.
1900. Knowledge, 1 Oct., 234/2. If the electric bell was placed on the same table as the sparking knobs.
1902. Daily Chron., 5 Sept., 7/5. Only when I got to the very top did I find the last sparking plug cracked.
