v.
(past sprang or chiefly N. Amer. sprung; past part. sprung)
- move suddenly or rapidly upwards or forwards.
▸cause (a game bird) to rise from cover.
- move suddenly by or as if by the action of a spring.
- operate or cause to operate by means of a spring mechanism.
-
(spring from)
originate or appear from.
▸
(spring up)
suddenly develop or appear.
▸
(spring something on)
present something suddenly or unexpectedly to.
- informal bring about the escape or release of (a prisoner).
-
[usu. as adj. sprung]
provide (a vehicle or item of furniture) with springs.
- (of wood) become warped or split.
-
(spring for)
N. Amer. informal pay for.
n.
- the season after winter and before summer, in which vegetation begins to appear.
▸Astronomy the period from the vernal equinox to the summer solstice.
- an elastic device, typically a helical metal coil, that can be pressed or pulled but returns to its former shape when released.
▸elastic quality.
- a sudden jump upwards or forwards.
- a place where water wells up from an underground source.
- an upward curvature of a ship's deck planking from the horizontal.
▸a split in a wooden plank or spar under strain.
- Nautical a hawser laid out from a ship's bow or stern and secured to a fixed point in order to prevent movement or assist manoeuvring.
Phrase
- spring a leak
(of a boat or container) develop a leak.
Derivative
- springless adj.
- springlet n. (literary).
- springlike adj.
Etymology
OE spring (n.), springan (v.), of Gmc origin.