sparkler
(ˈspɑːklə(r))
[f. sparkle v.1 + -er.]
1. One who sparkles or shines in respect of beauty or accomplishments; esp. a vivacious, witty, or pretty young woman.
| 1713 Addison Guardian No. 120 §1 What wou'd you say, should you see the Sparkler..thumping the Table with a Dice-Box? 1772 Town & County Mag. 67 He called her his sparkler, and commended her person and accomplishments. 1800 Weems Life Washington (1810) i. 6 To wheeze and cough by themselves, and not depress the..spirits of the young sparklers. 1849 Cupples Green Hand vi. (1856) 58 ‘No doubt,’ says Bill, ‘she's what I call a exact sparkler!’ |
2. A bright or sparkling eye. Chiefly pl. Latterly colloq. or slang.
| 1746 Hervey Medit. (1818) 59 The eye, that outshone the diamond's brilliancy,..where is it? where shall we find the rolling sparkler? 1775 Sheridan Duenna ii. ii, One glance of those roguish sparklers would fix me again. 1804 Sporting Mag. XXIII. 284 A very beautiful woman, with a pair of bright sparklers. 1854 Ainsworth Flitch of Bacon ii. iii. 135 As to her eyes, they shine, like—I don't know what..; though they don't come up to the lustre of Bab's sparklers. |
3. A sparkling gem; a diamond.
| 1822 Byron Werner iii. i. 328 Oh, thou sweet sparkler! Thou more than stone of the philosopher! 1860 All Year Round No. 46. 459 Amber mouthpieces filleted with ‘sparklers’, as the English cracksman affectionately calls diamonds. 1893 M{supc}Carthy Red Diamonds I. ii. 47 Pretty sparklers, ain't they? |
4. An insect having a shining or sparkling appearance; spec. any beetle of the family Cicindelidæ; a tiger-beetle.
| 1860 Piesse Lab. Chem. Wonders 2 Cicindela or sparkler. c 1860 J. Carlin To Fireflies i. in Harper's Mag. (1884) Mar. 590/1 Awake, ye sparklers, bright and gay. |
5. A sparkling wine.
| 1868 Rep. U.S. Commissioner Agric. (1869) 575 In France the manufacturers of sparkling wine..have to increase its effervescence by mixing it with the wine grown in Champagne, which is a natural sparkler. 1975 Country Life 2 Oct. 839/3 Other sparklers made by the champagne method can be excellent: notably Sparkling Saumur and Seyssel from Savoy. 1981 Times 6 Mar. (Bride & Home Suppl.) p. vi/4 There are lots of good sparkling wines..Blanquette de Limoux or the Spanish sparklers. |
6. Something which shines or sparkles; a sparkling firework.
| 1879 Warren Astron. vi. 113 [Mercury] keeps so near the sun that very few people have ever seen the brilliant sparkler. 1894 Westm. Gaz. 3 Nov. 3/2 The most popular and novel among these [fireworks] are the electric sparkler [etc.]. |