sprite

n. a small, magical creature like a fairy or an elf that lives in nature.

n. a supernatural being, often associated with nature, similar to an elf, fairy, or pixie.

“In the old stories, a water sprite lived in the deep part of the lake.”

“The poet populated his imaginary forest with mischievous sprites and ancient spirits that guarded the sacred groves.”

Literary

n. a small 2D image or character in a video game that moves around the screen.

n. a two-dimensional bitmap that is integrated into a larger scene, typically in the context of video games or computer graphics.

“The game designer spent all night drawing the main character's walking sprite.”

“Early console hardware was limited by the number of sprites it could render simultaneously without causing significant frame-rate drops.”

Technical

n. a bright flash of red light that happens very high in the sky during a storm.

n. a large-scale electrical discharge occurring high above a thunderstorm cloud, appearing as a luminous red-orange flash.

“Pilots sometimes see red sprites dancing above the clouds during heavy lightning storms.”

“Atmospheric scientists use high-speed cameras to capture the fleeting duration of sprites, which occur far above the reach of ordinary lightning.”

Technical

v. to draw small characters or objects using pixels for a video game.

v. to create or design pixel-based graphics, specifically for use as sprites in digital media.

“He spent the weekend spriting new enemies for his indie game project.”

“While he was skilled at coding, he preferred spriting because it allowed him to explore the aesthetic constraints of low-resolution art.”

Informal · Slang