I. ˈspriŋ verb
( sprang ˈspraŋ, -aiŋ ; or sprung ˈsprəŋ ; sprung ; springing ; springs )
Etymology: Middle English springen, from Old English springan; akin to Old High German springan to jump, spring, Old Frisian & Old Norse springa to jump, spring, Greek sperchesthai to hasten, Sanskrit spṛhayati he desires; basic meaning: to move fast, jump
intransitive verb
1.
a.
(1) : to undergo a sudden or violent change in place or position : dart , shoot
the sparks sprang upward as he stirred the fire
(2) : to have or display resiliency : move or be capable of moving by elastic force
the two halves sprang back together again — C.L.Carmer
b. : to become shattered or cracked : break , split
the veneer springs along the fracture — Andrew Wood & Thomas Linn
c. : to bend from a straight direction or plane surface : become warped
(2) : to issue with speed and force : break out
the blood springs from the wound
the tears spring from her eyes
: issue as a stream
out of these curiously shaped mounds springs an unflagging supply of water — George Farwell
turned on the first shining water tap, and watched the water spring , streaming, from it — Kay Boyle
3.
a. : to grow as a plant
white heather springs on the mountainsides — Isabel Lawrence
b. : to issue by birth or descent
both parents sprang from wealthy landowners — Cecil Sprigge
sprang from a comfortable corner of the English middle class — J.M.Cameron
s
c. : to come into being : appear , arise , emerge
hope springs eternal in the human breast — Alexander Pope
the horror springing up in his eyes as it came to him — J.B.Benefield
towns sprang into being where cattle trails and stage lines met — American Guide Series: Texas
: proceed , result
her anxiety had sprung from a definite cause — Ellen Glasgow
d. archaic : to become visible : dawn
at five the golden light began to spring — John Keats
e. : to develop force : begin to blow — used with up
a breeze suddenly sprang up
4.
a. : to make a bound : move by means of a leap or leaps
sprang toward the door, but was intercepted in her intended flight — T.L.Peacock
sprang across the stream, inviting those who shared his views to follow him — American Guide Series: Maine
b. : to start up suddenly (as from a covert)
c. : to leap or jump up : rise suddenly from a resting position
I sprang to my feet, for anger had overtaken me — Edita Morris
5.
a. : to stretch out in height or length : extend
from its corners spring four slender minarets — Douglas Carruthers
b. of a vault or arch : to start rounding upward from the impost
from rich entablatures spring graceful arches supporting the vaulted ceilings — American Guide Series: Pennsylvania
6.
a. of a female domestic animal : to show signs of approaching parturition (as by dropping of the enlarged abdomen and swelling of the udder)
b. of an udder : swell
transitive verb
1. : to cause to grow, arise, or develop
hoped it would rain very soon, to spring some new grass — Doris Lessing
is sprung compellingly into life from a powerfully creative, romantic mind — Times Literary Supplement
2.
a. : to start (as game) from cover : cause to rise from the earth or from a covert : flush
spring a pheasant
b. : to put to a gallop
sprang his horse in front of the ranks — C.L.Carmer
3.
a.
(1) : to undergo the splitting or cracking of
the ship sprang a mast
(2) : to bring about the splitting or cracking of
the wind sprang the foremast of the ship
b. : to undergo the opening of (a leak)
having grounded at the mouth of the river as a result of which it sprung a leak — Hispanic American Hist. Review
the radiator sprung a leak — John Steinbeck
4.
a. : to cause to explode
the disturbance of the steamer's approach springing a myriad of these floating mines — William Beebe
b. : chamber 4
a borehole is sprung … by exploding in the bottom several charges of dynamite — Blasters' Handbk.
5.
a. : to cause to shift place or position suddenly : make leap up or start forward or out
the wind sprang some tiles from the roof
b.
(1) : to operate or cause to operate by sudden pressure or movement
sprang the watchcase open
(2) : to cause to close or operate
spring a trap
(3) : to cause (a rattle) to sound by movement of a part
c. : to apply or insert by bending
needed all his strength to spring in the bar
d. : to bend by force
spring the steel band
e. : to move, haul, or swing (a ship) by means of a spring line
to get under way spring the boat ahead — Manual of Seamanship
f. : to raise (the toe of a shoe last) above the ground line
6.
a. : to start (a vault or arch) upward from the impost
b. : to put up (an arch)
c. : arch , curve
the dog's ribs are well sprung
7. : to pass over by leaping
the horse sprang the narrow fence
8. : to give, spend, offer, or pay out (money)
there's nothing really immoral about springing ten cents for a ball of twine — R.P.Smith
9. : to produce or disclose suddenly or unexpectedly
the last page springs a surprise bit of fireworks no reviewer should mention beforehand — N.Y.Herald Tribune Book Rev
my wife sprung a dinner party with nearly all my old secretaries on me — O.W.Holmes †1935
10. : to make lame : strain
its near leg was sprung a little, maybe from being worked too hard too young — William Faulkner
sprang every blessed muscle in my … leg — John Buchan
11. slang : to release or cause to be released from confinement, custody, or military service
there'd be a lawyer down there to spring him before I got the cell door shut — Leslie Ford
Synonyms:
spring , arise , rise , originate , derive , flow , issue , emanate , proceed , stem can mean, in common, to come up or out of something into existence. spring stresses sudden or surprising emergence, especially after a period of concealed existence or preparation
plants spring from seed
the images that spring up in one's consciousness
it is from the middle class that writers spring — Virginia Woolf
arise emphasizes chiefly the mere fact of coming into existence or notice, conveying the idea of a vagueness of prior state; when used with from it implies a causal connection between subject and object
an argument arose during the meal — Zechariah Chafee
present uncertainties arise partly out of far-reaching changes in the American environment — J.D.Millett
differences in English may arise from several causes — English Language Arts
rise and arise in this sense of to come into existence are often interchangeable, although rise may possibly carry some connotation of literal or figurative ascent
empires rise and fall within a single man's lifetime — Elspeth Huxley
a church rose in the wilderness — American Guide Series: Connecticut
from the South, at last, rose that bitter opposition which flowered in a bloody civil war — Carol L. Thompson
originate suggests a source of starting point, carrying the idea of inception at that source
at one time it was believed that man originated in America — R.W.Murray
within its area of 84,682 square miles originate three great river systems — American Guide Series: Minnesota
adult fears originating in childhood insecurity
derive also suggests a source, though it usually does not imply inception, usually presupposing a prior existence in another form, person, or thing, and connoting descent as by endowment, transference, deduction, imitation, or reproduction
the new playwrights derive from him — E.R.Bentley
the principal income derives from coal mining — American Guide Series: Pennsylvania
its criticism derives directly from English inspiration — Bernard Smith
flow emphasizes often the abundance of the supply, often the ease of provision or production
from the town's shaded public square flows justice — American Guide Series: Virginia
masterpiece upon masterpiece flowed from his brush — advt
a great generosity from which flowed gift after gift
issue suggests emergence into existence as from a womb, stressing somewhat a causal force
three conclusions at least issue from the perusal — T.S.Eliot
emanate applies chiefly to immaterial things, as law, principles, power, or thoughts, connoting the emergence or passage of something impalpable or invisible, suggesting less causal force that issue
the earlier reports which emanated from Dumbarton Oaks — Sir Winston Churchill
the rain-drenched geranium bed, from which emanated an odor musky and sweet — J.C.Powys
the impalpable aura of power that emanated from him — Osbert Sitwell
the criminal organization … is extremely powerful, and part of its power emanates from the close-knit structure — D.W.Maurer & V.H.Vogel
proceed stresses place of origin, or, sometimes, parentage, derivation, or cause
proceeding from the premise that half the world does not know how the other half lives — Dun's Review
the philosophic movement proceeded from little known thinkers and writers
stem suggests a growing out, as of a stem from a plant, and applies chiefly to things that come into existence through the influence of a predecessor, as a natural outgrowth or subordinate development
one of twenty-five in the class, all but four stemming from Maine — M.L.Ernst
these influences … stem from warfare, from medicine, from the arts, from religion — D.J.Struik
Synonym: see in addition jump .
II. noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English; akin to Old Frisian spring, Old Saxon & Old High German gi spring spring, Old English springan to spring — more at spring I
1.
a. : a source of a body or reservoir of water (as of a river or well)
a flowing body that begins in a hundred trickles and runnels and springs high up in the mountains — Lewis Mumford
b.
(1) : an issue of water from the earth : a natural fountain
everybody lived in dugouts or small log houses on springs or creeks — Bruce Siberts
had to drill a well when their spring ran dry
(2) : a natural fountain having specified properties — usually used in plural
mineral springs
sulfur springs
hot springs
(3) : something that resembles a fountain
a spring of pity, of affection … suddenly welled up within her — Winston Churchill
c. : a flow or seepage (as of a mineral) from the earth
accumulations of oil which seeped to the surface in springs — Bliss Isely
tar springs
2.
a. : a source of something ; especially : a hidden or ultimate source
this habit of retirement to the inner springs of being — H.S.Canby
a custom, a belief, and art, however deep down its springs, sooner or later rises into social consciousness — A.L.Kroeber
b. archaic : the beginning or first appearance of something
never since the middle summer's spring , met we — Shakespeare
specifically : dawn , dayspring
they arose early: and it came to pass about the spring of the day — 1 Sam 9:26 (Authorized Version)
c. : a first stage : a time or state of growth and development
this thirteen-year-old girl, in whose flat childish body the spring was beginning to stir — Edith Sitwell
d. : something that produces action or motion : cause , motive
laying open to his view the springs of action in both parties — T.L.Peacock
the springs of human conduct — A.T.Weaver
3. : an exceptionally high or low tide : spring tide
4.
a. chiefly dialect : a grove of young trees : plantation
b. chiefly dialect : a young undergrowth (as of trees or shrubs)
5.
a.
(1) : an elastic body or device that recovers its original shape when released after being distorted ; specifically : one designed for some specific use (as to check recoil, to diminish concussion and jar, to store up energy) — see breguet hairspring , mainspring
(2) : bedspring
b. : a person likened to a spring (as in tension or contained energy)
a steel spring of a man — Claudia Cassidy
6.
a. : the act or an instance of leaping up or forward : bound
the cat made a spring at the mouse
took the steps at one spring
that sudden and inexplicable spring forward took place independently … in three different regions and cultures — T.I.Cook
b. : a low leap in which a dancer moves forward, backward, or sideward as weight is transferred from one foot to the other
c. chiefly Scotland : a lively tune or dance
took the pipes, and played a little spring — R.L.Stevenson
7. of teal : a small flock
8.
a. : the season between winter and summer reckoned astronomically as extending from the March equinox to the June solstice
b. : the season comprising the months of March, April, and May
c. Britain : the season comprising the months of February, March, and April
d. : the season reckoned astronomically in the southern hemisphere as extending from the September equinox to the December solstice
9.
a. : capacity for springing : elastic power or force : elasticity , resilience
the ironing-out effect of passing trains on track which has a certain amount of spring in it — O.S.Nock
: bounce , buoyancy , energy
there was a new spring in their step — Bennett Cerf
b. : the action of flying back to a normal state or position from a sprung state or position
the spring of a bow
10. : the point or plane at which an arch or vault curve springs from its impost
11.
a. : a crack, fissure, or permanent deformation in a mast or yard
b.
(1) : a line led from a ship's quarter to its cable so that by hauling in or slacking the line the ship can be made to lie in any desired position
(2) : a line led diagonally from the bow or stern of a ship to some point upon a wharf and made fast to aid in springing the ship in to the wharf
12. of a dog : roundness of ribs : the state of having the ribs well arched
13. : the furcula of a springtail
14. : a more or less flexible pipe bend or elbow designed to accommodate slight changes in length
15.
a. : the variation of a shoe at the toe and arch from a horizontal line
b. : a tension at the counter of a shoe caused by cutting the upper shorter at that place
16.
a. : king salmon
b. : a pelt or fur taken in the spring and usually no longer prime
Synonyms: see jump , motive
III. transitive verb
( springed -riŋd ; or sprung -rəŋ ; springed or sprung ; springing ; springs )
: to fit with springs
the ambulance … was the old kind, like a furniture van, but it was well sprung — Fred Majdalany
there were springed bunks which folded into the wall — Bill Mauldin
IV. noun
( -s )
Etymology: alteration of springe
chiefly dialect : noose , snare