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Definition spring

Etymology

As a verb, from Middle English springen (“to burst or flow forth, to sprout, to emerge, to happen, to become known, to sprinkle”), from Old English springan (“to burst or flow forth, to sprout, to emerge, to become known”), cognate with West Frisian springe, Dutch & German springen, Danish springe, Swedish springa. Further etymology is uncertain, but usually taken to derive from a Proto-Germanic verb reconstructed as *springan? (“to burst forth”), from a Proto-Indo-European root reconstructed *sper??- whose other descendants may include Lithuanian spreñgti (“to push (in)”), Old Church Slavonic ?????? (pr?sti, “to spin, to stretch”), Latin spargere (“to sprinkle, to scatter”), Ancient Greek ?????? (spérkh?, “to hasten”), Sanskrit ???????? (sp?háyati, “to be eager”). Some newer senses derived from the noun.

As a noun, from Middle English spring (“a wellspring, tide, branch, sunrise, kind of dance or blow, ulcer, snare, flock”), from Old English spring (“wellspring, ulcer”) and Old English spryng (“a jump”), from ablaut forms of the Proto-Germanic verb. Further senses derived from the verb and from clippings of day-spring, springtime, spring tide, etc. Its sense as the season, first attested in a work predating 1325, gradually replaced Old English lencten (“spring, Lent”) as that word became more specifically liturgical.

Verb

spring (third-person singular simple present springs, present participle springing, simple past sprang or sprung, past participle sprung)

1. (intransitive) To burst forth, particularly
   1. (of liquids) To gush, to flow suddenly and violently.
   2. (of water, now rare without "out" or "up") To gush, to flow out of the ground.
   3. (of light) To appear, to dawn.
   4. (of plants) To sprout, to grow, (figuratively) to arise, to come into existence.
   5. (of fire) To fly up or out.
   6. (of animals and figuratively, now usually with adverbs of direction) To move with great speed and energy: to leap, to jump; to dart, to sprint; (of people) to rise rapidly from a seat, bed, etc.
   7. (hunting, esp. of birds) To rise from cover.
   8. (of knowledge, usually with "wide", obsolete) To become known, to spread.
   9. (of odors, obsolete) To emit, to spread.
   10. (of landscape) To come dramatically into view.
   11. (obsolete) To rise in social position or military rank, to be promoted.
   12. (usually with "from") To be born, descend, or originate from; (figuratively, religion, philosophy, etc.) to descend or originate from.
   13. (now chiefly botanical) To grow taller or longer.
2. (transitive, of beards, archaic) To grow.
3. (transitive) To cause to burst forth, particularly
   1. (of water, rare) To cause to well up or flow out of the ground.
   2. (of plants and figuratively, now rare) To bring forth or (obsolete) permit to bring forth new shoots, leaves, etc.
   3. (of knowledge, obsolete) To cause to become known, to tell of.
   4. (of animals and figuratively) To cause to move energetically; (equestrianism) to cause to gallop, to spur.
   5. (hunting, esp. of birds) To cause to rise from cover.
   6. (military, of weapons, obsolete) To shift quickly from one designated position to another.
   7. (of horses, rare, obsolete) To breed with, to impregnate.
   8. (of mechanisms) To cause to work or open by sudden application of pressure.
4. (transitive, obsolete) To make wet, to moisten.
5. (intransitive, usually with "to" or "up") To rise suddenly, (of tears) to well up.
6. (intransitive, now usually with "apart" or "open") To burst into pieces, to explode, to shatter; (military, obsolete) to go off.
7. (transitive, military) To cause to explode, to set off, to detonate.
8. (intransitive, nautical, usually perfective) To crack.
9. (transitive, nautical) To have something crack.
10. (transitive, nautical) To cause to crack.
11. (transitive, originally figuratively) To surprise by sudden or deft action, particularly
    1. To come upon and flush out; (Australia slang) to catch in an illegal act or compromising position.
    2. (obsolete) To begin something.
    3. (obsolete) To produce, provide, or (rare) place an item unexpectedly.
    4. (rare, obsolete, slang) To put bad money into circulation.
    5. (of jokes, gags, etc., obsolete) To tell, to share.
    6. (of news, surprises, etc.) To announce unexpectedly, to reveal.
    7. (transitive, slang, originally US) To free from imprisonment, especially by facilitating an illegal escape.
    8. (intransitive, slang, now rare) To be free of imprisonment, especially by illegal escape.
12. (transitive, architecture, of arches) To build, (especially) to form the initial curve of.
13. (intransitive, architecture, of arches, with "from") To extend, to curve.
14. (transitive, nautical) To turn a vessel using a spring attached to its anchor cable.
15. (transitive, nautical, obsolete) To raise a vessel's sheer.
16. (transitive, cobblery, rare, obsolete) To raise a last's toe.
17. (transitive) To pay or spend a certain sum, to cough up.
18. (intransitive, rare, obsolete, slang) To raise an offered price.
19. (transitive, US dialectal) Alternative form of sprain.
20. (transitive, US dialectal) Alternative form of strain.
21. (intransitive, rare, obsolete) To act as a spring: to strongly rebound.
22. (transitive, rare) To equip with springs, especially (of vehicles) to equip with a suspension.
23. (transitive, rare, obsolete) To provide spring or elasticity; (figuratively, rare, obsolete) to inspire, to motivate.
24. (transitive) To deform owing to excessive pressure, to become warped; (now) to intentionally deform in order to position and then straighten in place.
25. (intransitive, now rare) To reach maturity, to be fully grown.
26. (intransitive, Britain dialectal, chiefly of cows) To swell with milk or pregnancy.
27. (transitive, of rattles, archaic) To sound, to play.
28. (intransitive, obsolete) To spend the springtime somewhere, especially (of animals) to find or get enough food during springtime.

Noun

spring (countable and uncountable, plural springs)

1. (countable) An act of springing: a leap, a jump.
2. (countable) The season of the year in temperate regions in which plants spring from the ground and into bloom and dormant animals spring to life, variously reckoned as
   Synonym: springtime
   Coordinate terms: summer, autumn or fall, winter
   1. (astronomy) The period from the moment of vernal equinox (around March 21 in the Northern Hemisphere) to the moment of the summer solstice (around June 21); the equivalent periods reckoned in other cultures and calendars.
   2. (meteorology) The three months of March, April, and May in the Northern Hemisphere and September, October, and November in the Southern Hemisphere.
3. (uncountable, figuratively) The time of something's growth; the early stages of some process.
4. (countable) Something which springs, springs forth, springs up, or springs back, particularly
   1. (geology) A spray or body of water springing from the ground.
   2. (oceanography, obsolete) The rising of the sea at high tide.
   3. (oceanography) Short for spring tide, the especially high tide shortly after full and new moons.
   4. A mechanical device made of flexible or coiled material that exerts force and attempts to spring back when bent, compressed, or stretched.
   5. (nautical) A line from a vessel's end or side to its anchor cable used to diminish or control its movement.
   6. (nautical) A line laid out from a vessel's end to the opposite end of an adjacent vessel or mooring to diminish or control its movement.
   7. (figuratively) A race, a lineage.
   8. (figuratively) A youth.
   9. A shoot, a young tree.
   10. A grove of trees; a forest.
5. (countable, slang) An erection of the penis. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
6. (countable, nautical, obsolete) A crack which has sprung up in a mast, spar, or (rare) a plank or seam.
7. (uncountable) Springiness: an attribute or quality of springing, springing up, or springing back, particularly
   1. Elasticity: the property of a body springing back to its original form after compression, stretching, etc.
   2. Elastic energy, power, or force.
8. (countable) The source from which an action or supply of something springs.
9. (countable) Something which causes others or another to spring forth or spring into action, particularly
   1. A cause, a motive, etc.
   2. (obsolete) A lively piece of music.

Results 396 Words with the letters SPRING

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