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spring

Pronunciation: /sprɪŋ/

Translate spring | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of spring

verb (past sprang /spraŋ/ or chiefly North American sprung /sprʌŋ/; past participle sprung)

  • 1 [no object, with adverbial of direction] move or jump suddenly or rapidly upwards or forwards:I sprang out of bed figurativethey sprang to her defence
  • [no object, with complement or adverbial] move rapidly or suddenly from a constrained position by or as if by the action of a spring:the drawer sprang open
  • operate suddenly by means of a mechanism:the engine sprang into life
  • [with object] cause (a game bird) to rise from cover.
  • [with object] informal bring about the escape or release of (a prisoner):the president sought to spring the hostages
  • 2 [no object] (spring from) originate or arise from:madness and creativity could spring from the same source
  • appear suddenly or unexpectedly from:tears sprang from his eyes
  • (spring up) suddenly develop or appear:a terrible storm sprang up
  • [with object] (spring something on) present or propose something suddenly or unexpectedly to (someone):we decided to spring a surprise on them
  • 3 [with object] (usually as adjective sprung) cushion or fit (a vehicle or item of furniture) with springs:a fully sprung bed
  • 4 [no object] (especially of wood) become warped or split.
  • [with object] (of a boat) suffer splitting of (a mast or other part).
  • 5 [no object] (spring for) North American informal pay for:don’t spring for the album until you’ve heard it
  • [with object] archaic spend (money):he might spring a few shillings more
  • 6 [with object] Australian informal come upon (an illicit activity or its perpetrator):our science teacher sprung me acting the goat

noun

  • 1the season after winter and before summer, in which vegetation begins to appear, in the northern hemisphere from March to May and in the southern hemisphere from September to November:in spring the garden is a feast of blossom [as modifier]:spring rain
  • Astronomy the period from the vernal equinox to the summer solstice.
  • short for spring tide.
  • 2an elastic device, typically a helical metal coil, that can be pressed or pulled but returns to its former shape when released, used chiefly to exert constant tension or absorb movement.
  • [mass noun] the ability to spring back strongly; elasticity:the mattress has lost its spring
  • 3 [in singular] a sudden jump upwards or forwards:with a sudden spring, he leapt on to the table
  • informal, dated an escape or release from prison.
  • 4a place where water or oil wells up from an underground source, or the basin or flow formed in such a way:the well is fed by mountain springs
  • (usually springs) the origin or a source of something:the springs of his own emotions
  • 5an upward curvature of a ship’s deck planking from the horizontal.
  • a split in a wooden plank or spar under strain.
  • 6 Nautical a hawser laid out diagonally aft from a ship’s bow or forward from a ship’s stern and secured to a fixed point in order to prevent movement or assist manoeuvring.

Phrases

spring a leak

(of a boat or container) develop a leak.
[originally in nautical use, referring to timbers springing out of position]

spring a trap

cause a trap for catching animals to close suddenly.
trick someone into doing something:she decided to spring the trap after noticing that her husband was behaving erratically

Derivatives

springless

adjective

springlet

noun ( literary)

springlike

adjective

Origin:

Old English spring (noun), springan (verb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch and German springen. Early use in the senses 'head of a well' and 'rush out in a stream' gave rise to the figurative use 'originate'

In British English the standard past tense is sprang (she sprang forward), while in US English the past can be either sprang or sprung (I sprung out of bed).

spring in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of spring in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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