spring
IPA: sprˈɪŋ
noun
- (countable) An act of springing: a leap, a jump.
- (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.
- (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.
- (meteorology) The three months of March, April, and May in the Northern Hemisphere and September, October, and November in the Southern Hemisphere.
- (uncountable, figurative) The time of something's growth; the early stages of some process.
- (figurative, politics) a period of political liberalization and democratization
- (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.
- (countable) Something which springs, springs forth, springs up, or springs back, particularly
- (geology) A spray or body of water springing from the ground.
- (oceanography, obsolete) The rising of the sea at high tide.
- A mechanical device made of flexible or coiled material that exerts force and attempts to spring back when bent, compressed, or stretched.
- (nautical) A line from a vessel's end or side to its anchor cable used to diminish or control its movement.
- (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.
- (figurative) A race, a lineage.
- (figurative) A youth.
- A shoot, a young tree.
- A grove of trees; a forest.
- (countable, slang) An erection of the penis.
- (countable, nautical, obsolete) A crack which has sprung up in a mast, spar, or (rare) a plank or seam.
- (uncountable) Springiness: an attribute or quality of springing, springing up, or springing back, particularly
- Elasticity: the property of a body springing back to its original form after compression, stretching, etc.
- Elastic energy, power, or force.
- (countable) The source from which an action or supply of something springs.
- (countable) Something which causes others or another to spring forth or spring into action, particularly
- A cause, a motive, etc.
- (obsolete) A lively piece of music.
- (countable) A surname.
- (oceanography) Short for spring tide, the especially high tide shortly after full and new moons. [The tide which occurs when the moon is new or full; the effects of the Sun and moon being reinforced so that this tide is of maximum range.]
- Alternative form of spring, the season of warmth and new vegetation following winter [(countable) An act of springing: a leap, a jump.]
verb
- (intransitive) To move or burst forth.
- To appear.
- To grow, to sprout.
- (UK dialectal) To mature.
- (figurative) To arise, to come into existence.
- (sometimes figurative) To enliven.
- (figurative, usually with cardinal adverbs) To move with great speed and energy.
- (usually with from) To be born, descend, or originate from
- (obsolete) To rise in social position or military rank, to be promoted.
- (transitive) To cause to spring (all senses).
- (of mechanisms) To cause to work or open by sudden application of pressure.
- (obsolete, of horses) To breed with, to impregnate.
- (transitive, obsolete) To wetten, to moisten.
- (intransitive, now usually with "apart" or "open") To burst into pieces, to explode, to shatter.
- (obsolete, military) To go off.
- (intransitive, nautical, usually perfective) To crack.
- (transitive, figurative) To surprise by sudden or deft action.
- To come upon and flush out.
- (Australia, slang) To catch in an illegal act or compromising position.
- (obsolete) To begin.
- (obsolete, slang) To put bad money into circulation.
- To tell, to share.
- (transitive, slang, US) To free from imprisonment, especially by facilitating an illegal escape.
- (intransitive, slang, rare) To be free of imprisonment, especially by illegal escape.
- (transitive, architecture, of arches) To build, to form the initial curve of.
- (intransitive, architecture, of arches, with "from") To extend, to curve.
- (transitive, nautical) To turn a vessel using a spring attached to its anchor cable.
- (transitive) To pay or spend a certain sum, to yield.
- (obsolete, intransitive, slang) To raise an offered price.
- (intransitive, obsolete) To act as a spring: to strongly rebound.
- (transitive, rare) To equip with springs, especially (of vehicles) to equip with a suspension.
- (figurative, rare, obsolete) to inspire, to motivate.
- (transitive, intransitive) To deform owing to excessive pressure, to become warped; to intentionally deform in order to position and then straighten in place.
- (intransitive, UK, dialectal, chiefly of cows) To swell with milk or pregnancy.
- (transitive, of rattles, archaic) To sound, to play.
- (intransitive) To spend the springtime somewhere
- (of animals) to find or get enough food during springtime.
- (transitive, US, dialectal) Alternative form of sprain. [To weaken, as a joint, ligament, or muscle, by sudden and excessive exertion, as by wrenching; to overstrain, or stretch injuriously, but without luxation]
- (transitive, US, dialectal) Alternative form of strain. [(transitive, obsolete) To hold tightly, to clasp.]
adjective
- the season of warmth and new vegetation following winter
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Examples of "spring" in Sentences
- The thawing of winter signals the coming of spring.
- Breeding occurs mainly in the spring and the summer.
- Fish is relished from the advent of winter till spring.
- Most of the precipitation falls in the summer and spring.
- The white flowers bloom in spring and summer and are highly fragrant.
- Intramural sports activities are also available in the winter and spring.
- The pecan orchards are especially beautiful in the spring and early summer.
- He visited the Canary Islands in the winter of 1853 and the spring of 1854.
- Flowering is often profuse, and may last for much of the spring and summer.
- In winter hundreds of large icicles are formed here, which melt in the spring.