spark lever

9.9

A small handle near the steering wheel for changing the engine timing

noun

Archaic

: palanca de chispa

In early automobiles, the spark lever was crucial for adjusting the ignition timing.

Examples

In vintage cars, the spark lever allows the driver to control the engine's timing manually.
To start the engine, the driver needed to pull the spark lever on the steering column.
Now, Charlie, when we pull down the spark lever, this shutter opens and releases the gamma rays.

The Absent-Minded Professor (1961)
Now, we use this spark lever here to levitate, the gas lever to move forward, and the brake pedal to stop or to go in reverse.

The Absent-Minded Professor (1961)

Surface Forms

spark lever singular

spark levers plural

Morphology

spark + lever

This is a straightforward modifier+noun compound: 'spark' specifies what the lever is related to, so a learner who knows 'spark' and 'lever' can infer it is a lever that controls or adjusts something to do with sparks (i.e. the ignition). Although the exact technical function (timing adjustment) is specific, the basic instrument-with-purpose meaning is transparently derived from the constituents and follows common composition patterns.

Etymology

The noun spark lever comes from early cars and names a small lever near the steering wheel that changed when the engine's spark fired. Drivers moved the spark lever to 'adjust the ignition timing' so the engine would run better or start more easily.