spring

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

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Contents 1 English 1.1 Pronunciation 1.2 Etymology 1.3 Verb 1.3.1 Synonyms 1.3.2 Derived terms 1.3.3 Related terms 1.3.4 Translations 1.4 Noun 1.4.1 Synonyms 1.4.2 Antonyms 1.4.3 Derived terms 1.4.4 Related terms 1.4.5 Translations 1.5 See also 1.6 References 2 Danish 2.1 Etymology 2.2 Noun 2.2.1 Related terms 2.2.2 Inflection 2.3 Verb 3 Dutch 3.1 Pronunciation 3.2 Verb 4 German 4.1 Verb 5 Swedish 5.1 Verb

[edit] English

[edit] Pronunciation

• enPR: sprĭng, IPA: /sprɪŋ/, SAMPA: /sprIN/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}

  Rhymes: -ɪŋ

[edit] Etymology

Old English springan.

Sense of ‘season’ 1547, from earlier springing time, spring-time, in sense of buds sprouting or “spring” up. This replaced Old English Lent by the 14th century.^[1]

Sense of ‘source of water’ attested circa 1225.^[1]

[edit] Verb

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

1. To start to exist.

   Sometimes the ideas spring to life fully formed.

2. To jump or leap.

   He sprang up from his seat.

3. (slang) To release or set free, especially from prison.

[edit] Synonyms

• (start to exist): be born, come into being, come into existence
• (jump, leap): bound, jump, leap
• (release or set free, especially from prison): free, let out, release, spring loose

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Related terms

[edit] Translations

[edit] Noun

spring (countable and uncountable; plural springs)

1. (countable) Traditionally the first of the four seasons of the year in temperate regions, in which plants spring from the ground and trees come into blossom, following winter and preceding summer.
2. (countable) Meteorologically, the months of March, April and May in the northern hemisphere (or September, October and November in the southern).
3. (countable) The astronomically delineated period from the moment of vernal equinox, approximately March 20 in the northern hemisphere (September 22 in the southern), to the moment of the summer solstice, approximately June 21 (December 22).
4. (countable) Spring tide; a tide of greater-than-average range, that is, around the first or third quarter of a lunar month, or around the times of the new or full moon.
5. (countable) A place where water emerges from the ground.
6. (uncountable) The property of a body of springing to its original form after being compressed, stretched, etc.
7. (countable) A mechanical device made of flexible or coiled material that exerts force when it is bent, compressed or stretched.
8. (countable, nautical) A rope attaching the bow of a vessel to the stern-side of the jetty, or vice versa, to stop the vessel from swaying.
9. (countable, slang) An erection of the penis.
10. (countable) The source of an action
    • 1748. David Hume. Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral. London: Oxford University Press, 1973, § 9.

      ... discover, at least in some degree, the secret springs and principles, by which the human mind is actuated in its operations?

[edit] Synonyms

• (place where water emerges from the ground): fount, source
• (property of a body of springing to its original form): bounce, bounciness, elasticity, resilience, springiness
• (slang: erection of the penis): boner, chubby, hard-on, stiffy, woody; see also "erection" in WikiSaurus
• (source of an action): impetus, impulse

[edit] Antonyms

• (spring tide): neap tide

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Related terms

[edit] Translations

[edit] See also

• geyser
• Hooke's law
• seep
• Slinky
• vernal
• well

[edit] References

• Notes:

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} “spring” in the Online Etymology Dictionary, Douglas Harper, 2001

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[edit] Danish

[edit] Etymology

Verbal noun to springe.

[edit] Noun

spring n. (singular definite springet, plural indefinite spring)

1. spring, jump, vault, leap

[edit] Related terms

[edit] Inflection

[edit] Verb

spring

1. Imperative of springe.

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[edit] Dutch

[edit] Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsprɪŋ/

[edit] Verb

spring

1. The first-person singular present tense of springen.
2. The imperative of springen.

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[edit] German

[edit] Verb

spring

1. imperative singular of springen

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[edit] Swedish

[edit] Verb

spring

1. imperative of springa