sparkern.
1. A spark-arrester.
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society > travel > rail travel > rolling stock > [noun] > locomotive > steam locomotive > chimney of > part of
bonnet1846
petticoat pipe1858
sparker1864
1864 Webster's Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. Sparker, a contrivance [in a locomotive-chimney] to prevent the escape of sparks, while it allows the passage of gas.
2. A kind of miniature firework.
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the world > matter > light > firework > [noun] > sparkler
sparkler1879
sparker1908
1908 Daily Chron. 31 Oct. 3/3 When discharged the sparker created a flare and emitted sparks.
3. A powerful form of sonar apparatus used to investigate solid structures underlying sediment on the sea bed.
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the world > matter > physics > science of sound > [noun] > techniques and equipment > used to investigate sea-bed
sparker1961
1961 Ann. Reg. 1960 406 The whole area was surveyed by the newly developed ‘sparker’ technique, an extension of the echo-sounding method used for charting the sea~bottom. The sparker used an intense sound source (a spark) which enabled the sound wave to penetrate the sea bottom. The sound waves were reflected from the interfaces between different kinds of rock.
1969 J. W. Mavor Voy. Atlantis ii. iii. 84 The ‘sparker’ and line hydrophone for listening to the reflected sound signals were the most powerful in the world but required a depth of 60 feet and 150 yards of towline astern.
1974 Nature 26 Apr. 745/1 An 8 kJ sparker was also used.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1864