spring

Etymology

As a verb, from Middle English spryngen (“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 Afrikaans spring, 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 *springaną (“to burst forth”), from a Proto-Indo-European root reconstructed *sprenǵʰ- whose other descendants may include Lithuanian spreñgti (“to push (in)”), Old Church Slavonic прѧсти (pręsti, “to spin, to stretch”), Latin spargere (“to sprinkle, to scatter”), Ancient Greek σπέρχω (spérkhō, “to hasten”), Sanskrit स्पृहयति (spṛháyati, “to be eager”). Some newer senses derived from the noun. As a noun, from Middle English spryng (“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. Compare fall.

verb

1. (intransitive) To burst forth.
   1. (of liquids) To gush, to flow suddenly and violently.
      ...for swenge swat ædrum sprong forð under fexe. ...for the swing, the blood from his veins sprang forth under his hair. Beowulf, ll. 2966–7
      ...þe wound þat was springand with huge stremes of blude... c. 1540, Livy, translated by John Bellenden, History of Rome, Vol. I, i, xxii, p. 125
      The boat sprang a leak and began to sink.
   2. (of water, now mostly followed by "out" or "up") To gush, to flow out of the ground.
   3. (of light) To appear, to dawn.
      ...so the man tooke his concubine, and brought her foorth vnto them, and they knew her, and abused her all the night vntil the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her goe. 1611, Bible (KJV), Judges, 19:25
   4. (of plants) To sprout, to grow,
      Who hath diuided a water-course for the ouerflowing of waters? or a way for the lightning of thunder, To cause it to raine on the earth, where no man is: on the wildernesse wherein there is no man? To satisfie the desolate and waste ground, and to cause the bud of the tender herbe to spring forth. 1611, Bible (KJV), Job, 38:25–27
      Dr. Sigmund Freud... says that everything you and I do springs from two motives: the sex urge and the desire to be great. 1936, Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People, page 42
      There was moisture in the ground, and from it sprang a million flowers, gold and blue and brown and red. 1974, James Albert Michener, Centennial, page 338
      Foxglove sprang tall and purple among the trees. 2006, N. Roberts, Morrigann's Cross, section VI
   5. (now chiefly botanical) To grow taller or longer.
   6. (hunting, especially of birds) To rise from cover.
   7. (of landscape) To come dramatically into view.
   8. (figurative) to arise, to come into existence.
      Hope springs eternal.
      He hit the gas and the car sprang to life.
   9. (figurative, Usually with cardinal adverbs, of animals) 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.
      ...into helle spring... c. 1250, Life of St Margaret, Trin. Col. MS B.14.39 (323), f. 22v
      Ye kynge... sprange out of his chare and resseyuyd them worshipfully. 1474, William Caxton, transl., Game and Playe of the Chesse, iii, vii, 141
      ...the Mountain Stag, that springs From Height to Height, and bounds along the Plains, Nor has a Master to restrain his Course... 1722, Ambrose Philips, The Briton
      ...out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter. 1827, Clement Clarke Moore, (A Visit from St. Nicholas)
      Thus she advanced; her belly low, almost touching the surface of the ground—a great cat preparing to spring upon its prey. 1912, Edgar Rice Burroughs, chapter 5, in Tarzan of the Apes
      Reporters sprang to the conclusion that the speech would make detailed new commitments... April 11 2011, The Atlantic
      Deer spring with their hind legs, using their front hooves to steady themselves.
      He sprang to his feet.
      A bow, when bent, springs back by its elastic power.
      Don't worry. She'll spring back to her cheerful old self in no time.
      It was the first thing that sprang to mind.
      She sprang to her husband's defense and clocked the protestor.
   10. (usually with from) To be born, descend, or originate from
       He sprang from peasant stock.
   11. (figurative, religion, philosophy) to descend or originate from.
       The Stoics sprang from the Cynics.
   12. (obsolete) To rise in social position or military rank, to be promoted.
   13. (obsolete, of knowledge, usually with wide) To become known, to spread.
   14. (obsolete, of odors) To emit, to spread.
2. (transitive, archaic, of beards) To grow.
   A ȝong kniȝt, þat sprong furst [berd], c. 1330, “Otuel”, in The Taill of Rauf Coilyear, ll. 1445-6
3. (transitive) To cause to burst forth.
   1. (rare, of water) To cause to well up or flow out of the ground.
   2. (figurative, of plants) To bring forth.
      1. (obsolete) permit to bring forth new shoots, leaves, etc.
   3. (obsolete, of knowledge) To cause to become known, to tell of.
   4. (figurative, of animals) To cause to move energetically; (equestrianism) to cause to gallop, to spur.
      Just before the last pair of cones he sprung his ponies. April 25 1986, Horse & Hound, page 40
      Simple tricks such as an ‘ollie’—springing the board into mid-air—can be picked up in just a couple of weeks. July 10 2003, Daily Telegraph, page 7
   5. (hunting, of birds) To cause to rise from cover.
      His dogs sprang the grouse and partridges and flushed the woodcock.
   6. (obsolete, military, of weapons) To shift quickly from one designated position to another.
      Each man springs his ramrod as the officer passes him, and then returns it. 1833, Regulations for the Instruction... of the Cavalry, i, i, 29
   7. (obsolete, of horses) To breed with, to impregnate.
      ...[they] sought the fairest stoned horses to spring their mares... 1585, Nicolas De Nicolay, translated by Thomas Washington, The Navigations, Peregrinations, and Voyages, Made into Turkie..., Bk. IV, p. 154
   8. (of mechanisms) To cause to work or open by sudden application of pressure.
      He sprang the trap.
      On the 23d, the Besiegers sprung a Mine under the Salient Angle, upon the Right of the Haif Moon, which had the desired Success, the Enemy's Gallery on that Side, and the Mason-Work of the Counterscarp, being thereby demolished. 1747, The London Magazine, Or, Gentleman's Monthly Intelligencer
4. (transitive, obsolete) To make wet, to moisten.
5. (intransitive, usually with "to" or "up") To rise suddenly, (of tears) to well up.
   The documentary made tears spring to their eyes.
6. (intransitive, now usually with "apart" or "open") To burst into pieces, to explode, to shatter.
   On the 22nd the mines sprang, and took very good effect. 1698, François Froger, A Relation of a Voyage Made... on the Coasts of Africa, page 30
7. (obsolete, military) to go off.
   The whole contraption appears liable to spring apart at any moment. April 21 2012, Sydney Morning Herald, page 5
8. (transitive, military) To cause to explode, to set off, to detonate.
   They sprung another Mine... wherein was placed about sixtie Barrels of Powder. 1625, Samuel Purchas, Purchas His Pilgrimes, Vol. II, x, ix
9. (intransitive, nautical, usually perfective) To crack.
   Probably the mast had sprung in some squall. 2011, Julian Stockwin, Conquest, page 177
10. (transitive, nautical) To have something crack.
    The Edward sprang hir foremast. 1582 August 2, Richard Madox, diary
11. (transitive, nautical) To cause to crack.
    A boisterous wind... Springs the... mast... a. 1653, Zacharie Boyd, Zion's Flowers
12. (transitive, figurative) To surprise by sudden or deft action.
    1. To come upon and flush out
       To spring a plant, is to find any thing that has been concealed by another. 1819, James Hardy Vaux, "A New and Comprehensive Vocabulary of the Flash Language", Memoirs, Vol. II, s.v. "Plant"
    2. (Australia, slang) to catch in an illegal act or compromising position.
       He figured that nobody would ever spring him, but he figured wrong. 1980, John Hepworth et al., Boozing Out in Melbourne Pubs..., page 42
    3. (obsolete) To begin something.
    4. (obsolete) To produce, provide, or place an item unexpectedly.
       Surpriz'd with Fright, She starts, and leaves her Bed, and springs a Light. 1700, Ovid, “Cinyras and Myrrha”, in John Dryden, transl., Fables, page 178
       It's a feast at a poor country labourer's place, when he springs six-penn'orth of fresh herrings. 1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, volume I, page 53
    5. (obsolete, slang) To put bad money into circulation.
    6. (obsolete, of jokes, gags) To tell, to share.
    7. (of news, surprises) To announce unexpectedly, to reveal.
       North Korea loves to spring surprises. More unusual is for its US foe to play along. 29 February 2012, Aidan Foster-Carter, “North Korea: The Denuclearisation Dance Resumes”, in BBC News
       Sorry to spring it on you like this but I've been offered another job.
    8. (transitive, slang, US) To free from imprisonment, especially by facilitating an illegal escape.
       His lieutenants hired a team of miners to help spring him.
       If I was in jail I know you'd spring me 2007, Mike Batt (lyrics and music), “If You Were a Sailboat”, performed by Katie Melua
    9. (intransitive, slang, rare) To be free of imprisonment, especially by illegal escape.
13. (transitive, architecture, of arches) To build, to form the initial curve of.
    They sprung an arch over the lintel.
14. (intransitive, architecture, of arches, with "from") To extend, to curve.
    The arches spring from the front posts.
15. (transitive, nautical) To turn a vessel using a spring attached to its anchor cable.
16. (transitive, obsolete, nautical) To raise a vessel's sheer.
17. (transitive, obsolete, cobblery) To raise a last's toe.
18. (transitive) To pay or spend a certain sum, to cough up.
    He wouldn't spring a nickel for a bag of peanuts. 1957, Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, Over Seventy, page 137
19. (obsolete, intransitive, slang) To raise an offered price.
20. (transitive, US, dialectal) Alternative form of sprain.
21. (transitive, US, dialectal) Alternative form of strain.
22. (intransitive, obsolete) To act as a spring: to strongly rebound.
23. (transitive, rare) To equip with springs, especially (of vehicles) to equip with a suspension.
24. (transitive, rare, obsolete) To provide spring or elasticity
25. (figurative, rare, obsolete) to inspire, to motivate.
26. (transitive, intransitive) To deform owing to excessive pressure, to become warped; to intentionally deform in order to position and then straighten in place.
    Don't drive it in too hard, as it will ‘spring’ the plane-iron, and make it concave. 1873 July, Routledge's Young Gentleman's Magazine, page 503
    A piece of timber sometimes springs in seasoning.
    He sprang in the slat.
27. (intransitive, now rare) To reach maturity, to be fully grown.
28. (intransitive, UK, dialectal, chiefly of cows) To swell with milk or pregnancy.
    “Gee, Dad, Nancy’s springing all right,” Ray said and paused in spontaneous pleasure. Stan Parker came, and together they looked at their swelling heifer. 1955, Patrick White, chapter 15, in The Tree of Man, New York: Viking, page 228
29. (transitive, of rattles, archaic) To sound, to play.
    I do not know how John and his mistress would have settled the fate of the thief, but just at this moment a policeman entered — for the cook had sprung the rattle, and had been screaming "Murder" and "Thieves." 1850, Samuel Prout Newcombe, Pleasant pages, page 197
30. (intransitive) To spend the springtime somewhere
    True it is that, owing to the migratory propensities of our countrymen, every third man has wintered at Naples, springed at Vienna, summered in Switzerland, and autumned on the banks of the Lago Maggiore; 1835 May, “Northern Germany. A Sketch.”, in Fraser’s Magazine for Town and Country, volume XI, number LXV, page 507
    If Tad’s father and Tad had wintered, springed, summered, and autumned together for an hundred years instead of fifteen they could[…] 1912, William C[yrus] Sprague, Tad, the Story of a Boy who Had No Chance, page 2
    They wintered in a warm place / And summered in a cold, / But where they springed and autumned / I never have been told. 1937, Mortimer Jones, “Lines of No Importance”, in The Alphi Phi Quarterly, page 29
    She springed in London, summered in Stockholm, autumned at Vichy, and wintered at Monte Carlo. 1950, Chambers’s Journal, page 269
    In recent years his friend the fourth-quarter king summered, autumned, and springed in nearby Southern California, which was how they stayed so easily in touch. 2006, Tim Pratt, “The Third-Quarter King”, in Jonathan Strahan, Jeremy G Byrne, editors, Eidolon I, page 2
    Larry and Bill had planned to hold a white-linen “fancy” fund-raiser dinner in late June or early July, which would bring out the moneyed crowd who “summered” on the Island. If you summer or winter somewhere you are affluent, Larry knew. (Funny, though, he had never heard of anyone who “autumned” in Vermont or who was “springing” in Colorado.) 2010, Larry Stettner, Bill Morrison, Cooking for the Common Good: The Birth of a Natural Foods Soup Kitchen, Berkeley, Calif.: North Atlantic Books, page 84
    1. (of animals) to find or get enough food during springtime.

noun

1. (countable) An act of springing: a leap, a jump.
   The pris'ner with a spring from prison broke; Then stretch'd his feather'd fans with all his might, 1700, John Dryden, The Cock and the Fox
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.
   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.
      Chinese New Year always occurs in January or February but is called the "Spring Festival" throughout East Asia because it is reckoned as the beginning of their spring.
   2. (meteorology) The three months of March, April, and May in the Northern Hemisphere and September, October, and November in the Southern Hemisphere.
      I spent my spring holidays in Morocco.
      The spring issue will be out next week.
3. (uncountable, figurative) The time of something's growth; the early stages of some process.
   ...and it came to passe about the spring of the day, that Samuel called Saul to the top of the house... 1611, Bible (KJV), 1 Samuel 9:26
   1. (figurative, politics) a period of political liberalization and democratization
      Arab Spring
      Prague Spring
4. (countable, fashion) Someone with ivory or peach skin tone and eyes and hair that are not extremely dark, seen as best suited to certain colors of clothing.
5. (countable) Something which springs, springs forth, springs up, or springs back, particularly
   1. (geology) A spray or body of water springing from the ground.
      This beer was brewed with pure spring water.
   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.
      We jumped so hard the bed springs broke.
   5. (nautical) A line from a vessel's end or side to its anchor cable used to diminish or control its movement.
      He had warped round with the springs on his cable, and had recommenced his fire upon the Aurora. 1836, Frederick Marryat, Mr. Midshipman Easy, volume III, page 72
   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.
      You should put a couple of springs onto the jetty to stop the boat moving so much.
      Spring is likewise a rope reaching diagonally from the stern of a ship to the head of another which lies along-side or a-breast of her. 1769, William Falconer, An Universal Dictionary of the Marine, s.v
      ‘Springs’ are the ropes used on a ship that is alongside a berth to prevent fore and aft movements. January 26 2007, Business Times:
   7. (figurative) A race, a lineage.
   8. (figurative) A youth.
   9. A shoot, a young tree.
   10. A grove of trees; a forest.
6. (countable, slang) An erection of the penis.
7. (countable, nautical, obsolete) A crack which has sprung up in a mast, spar, or (rare) a plank or seam.
   A spar is said to be sprung, when it is cracked or split,... and the crack is called a spring. 1846, Arthur Young, Nautical Dictionary, page 292
8. (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.
      the spring of a bow
   2. Elastic energy, power, or force.
      Heav'ns what a spring was in his Arm, to throw: How high he held his Shield, and rose at ev'ry blow! 1697, John Dryden, Virgil's Aeneis, Bk. xi, ll. 437–8
      Mrs Durbeyfield, excited by her song, trod the rocker with all the spring that was left in her after a long day's seething in the suds. 1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 30
9. (countable) The source from which an action or supply of something springs.
   As wel the singers as the players on instruments shall bee there: all my springs are in thee. 1611, Bible (KJV), Psalms 87:7
   Such a man can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth him, he can patiently suffer all things with cheerfull submission and resignation to the Divine Will. He has a secret Spring of spiritual Joy, and the continual Feast of a good Conscience within, that forbid him to be miserable. 1693, The Folly and Unreasonableness of Atheism..., Richard Bentley, Sermon 1
   […] discover, at least in some degree, the secret springs and principles, by which the human mind is actuated in its operations? 1748, David Hume, Enquiries Concerning the Human Understanding and Concerning the Principles of Morals, London: Oxford University Press, published 1973, §9
10. (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.

adj

1. the season of warmth and new vegetation following winter