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Spring   /sprɪŋ/  /spərˈɪŋ/   Listen
noun
Spring  n.  
1.
A leap; a bound; a jump. "The prisoner, with a spring, from prison broke."
2.
A flying back; the resilience of a body recovering its former state by its elasticity; as, the spring of a bow.
3.
Elastic power or force. "Heavens! what a spring was in his arm!"
4.
An elastic body of any kind, as steel, India rubber, tough wood, or compressed air, used for various mechanical purposes, as receiving and imparting power, diminishing concussion, regulating motion, measuring weight or other force. Note: The principal varieties of springs used in mechanisms are the spiral spring (Fig. a), the coil spring (Fig. b), the elliptic spring (Fig. c), the half-elliptic spring (Fig. d), the volute spring, the India-rubber spring, the atmospheric spring, etc.
5.
Any source of supply; especially, the source from which a stream proceeds; an issue of water from the earth; a natural fountain. "All my springs are in thee." "A secret spring of spiritual joy." "The sacred spring whence right and honor streams."
6.
Any active power; that by which action, or motion, is produced or propagated; cause; origin; motive. "Our author shuns by vulgar springs to move The hero's glory, or the virgin's love."
7.
That which springs, or is originated, from a source; as:
(a)
A race; lineage. (Obs.)
(b)
A youth; a springal. (Obs.)
(c)
A shoot; a plant; a young tree; also, a grove of trees; woodland. (Obs.)
8.
That which causes one to spring; specifically, a lively tune. (Obs.)
9.
The season of the year when plants begin to vegetate and grow; the vernal season, usually comprehending the months of March, April, and May, in the middle latitudes north of the equator. "The green lap of the new-come spring." Note: Spring of the astronomical year begins with the vernal equinox, about March 21st, and ends with the summer solstice, about June 21st.
10.
The time of growth and progress; early portion; first stage; as, the spring of life. "The spring of the day." "O how this spring of love resembleth The uncertain glory of an April day."
11.
(Naut.)
(a)
A crack or fissure in a mast or yard, running obliquely or transversely.
(b)
A line led from a vessel's quarter to her cable so that by tightening or slacking it she can be made to lie in any desired position; a line led diagonally from the bow or stern of a vessel to some point upon the wharf to which she is moored.
Air spring, Boiling spring, etc. See under Air, Boiling, etc.
Spring back (Bookbinding), a back with a curved piece of thin sheet iron or of stiff pasteboard fastened to the inside, the effect of which is to make the leaves of a book thus bound (as a ledger or other account or blank book) spring up and lie flat.
Spring balance, a contrivance for measuring weight or force by the elasticity of a spiral spring of steel.
Spring beam, a beam that supports the side of a paddle box. See Paddle beam, under Paddle, n.
Spring beauty.
(a)
(Bot.) Any plant of the genus Claytonia, delicate herbs with somewhat fleshy leaves and pretty blossoms, appearing in springtime.
(b)
(Zool.) A small, elegant American butterfly (Erora laeta) which appears in spring. The hind wings of the male are brown, bordered with deep blue; those of the female are mostly blue.
Spring bed, a mattress, under bed, or bed bottom, in which springs, as of metal, are employed to give the required elasticity.
Spring beetle (Zool.), a snapping beetle; an elater.
Spring box, the box or barrel in a watch, or other piece of mechanism, in which the spring is contained.
Spring fly (Zool.), a caddice fly; so called because it appears in the spring.
Spring grass (Bot.), vernal grass. See under Vernal.
Spring gun, a firearm discharged by a spring, when this is trodden upon or is otherwise moved.
Spring hook (Locomotive Engines), one of the hooks which fix the driving-wheel spring to the frame.
Spring latch, a latch that fastens with a spring.
Spring lock, a lock that fastens with a spring.
Spring mattress, a spring bed.
Spring of an arch (Arch.) See Springing line of an arch, under Springing.
Spring of pork, the lower part of a fore quarter, which is divided from the neck, and has the leg and foot without the shoulder. (Obs.) "Sir, pray hand the spring of pork to me."
Spring pin (Locomotive Engines), an iron rod fitted between the springs and the axle boxes, to sustain and regulate the pressure on the axles.
Spring rye, a kind of rye sown in the spring; in distinction from winter rye, sown in autumn.
Spring stay (Naut.), a preventer stay, to assist the regular one.
Spring tide, the tide which happens at, or soon after, the new and the full moon, and which rises higher than common tides. See Tide.
Spring wagon, a wagon in which springs are interposed between the body and the axles to form elastic supports.
Spring wheat, any kind of wheat sown in the spring; in distinction from winter wheat, which is sown in autumn.


verb
Spring  v. t.  (past sprang; past part. sprung; pres. part. springing)  
1.
To cause to spring up; to start or rouse, as game; to cause to rise from the earth, or from a covert; as, to spring a pheasant.
2.
To produce or disclose suddenly or unexpectedly; as, to spring a surprise on someone; to spring a joke. "She starts, and leaves her bed, and springs a light." "The friends to the cause sprang a new project."
3.
To cause to explode; as, to spring a mine.
4.
To crack or split; to bend or strain so as to weaken; as, to spring a mast or a yard.
5.
To cause to close suddenly, as the parts of a trap operated by a spring; as, to spring a trap.
6.
To bend by force, as something stiff or strong; to force or put by bending, as a beam into its sockets, and allowing it to straighten when in place; often with in, out, etc.; as, to spring in a slat or a bar.
7.
To pass over by leaping; as, to spring a fence.
8.
To release (a person) from confinement, especially from a prison. (colloquial)
To spring a butt (Naut.), to loosen the end of a plank in a ship's bottom.
To spring a leak (Naut.), to begin to leak.
To spring an arch (Arch.), to build an arch; a common term among masons; as, to spring an arch over a lintel.
To spring a rattle, to cause a rattle to sound. See Watchman's rattle, under Watchman.
To spring the luff (Naut.), to ease the helm, and sail nearer to the wind than before; said of a vessel.
To spring a mast or To spring a spar (Naut.), to strain it so that it is unserviceable.


Spring  v. i.  (past sprang; past part. sprung; pres. part. springing)  
1.
To leap; to bound; to jump. "The mountain stag that springs From height to height, and bounds along the plains."
2.
To issue with speed and violence; to move with activity; to dart; to shoot. "And sudden light Sprung through the vaulted roof."
3.
To start or rise suddenly, as from a covert. "Watchful as fowlers when their game will spring."
4.
To fly back; as, a bow, when bent, springs back by its elastic power.
5.
To bend from a straight direction or plane surface; to become warped; as, a piece of timber, or a plank, sometimes springs in seasoning.
6.
To shoot up, out, or forth; to come to the light; to begin to appear; to emerge; as a plant from its seed, as streams from their source, and the like; often followed by up, forth, or out. "Till well nigh the day began to spring." "To satisfy the desolate and waste ground, and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth." "Do not blast my springing hopes." "O, spring to light; auspicious Babe, be born."
7.
To issue or proceed, as from a parent or ancestor; to result, as from a cause, motive, reason, or principle. "(They found) new hope to spring Out of despair, joy, but with fear yet linked."
8.
To grow; to thrive; to prosper. "What makes all this, but Jupiter the king, At whose command we perish, and we spring?"
To spring at, to leap toward; to attempt to reach by a leap.
To spring forth, to leap out; to rush out.
To spring in, to rush in; to enter with a leap or in haste.
To spring on or To spring upon, to leap on; to rush on with haste or violence; to assault.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Spring" Quotes from Famous Books



... remains in the same position in which she sat when the other "manifestations" were produced, communications are spelled out through the dial, the index being moved by some power under the table that pulls the string. A coil-spring makes the index fly back to the starting-point, when the power is relaxed at each indication of a character or word. The orthography of these "spirits" is "bad ...
— The Humbugs of the World • P. T. Barnum
... had said, the cabin was indeed open, and the carpet was strewn with emeralds, rubies, and other precious stones. Monte-Cristo at first examined the lock, the secret spring of which he alone knew how ...
— The Son of Monte-Cristo, Volume I (of 2) • Alexandre Dumas pere
... and if that descent be very sudden, the work done will be destructive work, as it may sweep away all houses and villages in its sudden descent. Thus, by the mere fact of its elevation, it possesses a power of doing work, which it has lost when it has descended. Again, work done in winding up the spring of a clock is stored up in the form of potential energy, and gradually runs out in the form of ...
— Aether and Gravitation • William George Hooper
... it?" Lulu asked indifferently. "Something you'll be glad to hear. You know the spring term closes next week; well, it seems that the time of Signor Foresti's engagement here expires with it, and, as he has been offered a higher salary elsewhere, he refuses to renew the contract with ...
— The Two Elsies - A Sequel to Elsie at Nantucket, Book 10 • Martha Finley
... is as a well-plastered cistern which loses not a drop; Joshua, son of Chananya, happy are his parents; Jose the priest is a saint; Simon, son of Nathanael, fears sin; Eleazar, son of Arach, is a mighty spring." He used to say, "if all the Sages of Israel were in one scale of the balance, and R. Eleazar, son of Hyrcanus, in the other, he would outweigh them all." Abba Saul said in his name, "if all the Sages of Israel were in one scale, and even R. Eleazar, son of ...
— Hebrew Literature


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