DictionaryAI

spring

SPRING/spɹɪŋ/

Pluralsprings

Verbsprings, springing, sprang, sprung

56 meanings of spring

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  1. 1
    seasonnouncountable or uncountable
    The season in temperate regions when temperatures and daylight hours rise, plants come into bloom, and dormant animals become active again.

    Migratory birds return to the northern lakes each spring.

    Spring arrived late this year, delaying planting for local farmers.

    UsageIn spring and in the spring both work. Last spring and next spring take no article.

    Similarspringtime

    Note

    Tennyson's "herald melodies of spring" in In Memoriam (1850) shows the season serving a poet as an emblem of renewal, even when the joy is withheld.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

  2. 2
    coilnouncountable or uncountable
    An elastic mechanical part, often coiled but sometimes flat or curved, that exerts force and returns toward its original shape when bent, compressed, or stretched.

    The mechanic replaced a worn spring in the car's suspension.

    Mattress makers test their springs by compressing them thousands of times.

    Similarcoil

  3. 3
    water sourcenouncountable or uncountable
    A point where groundwater flows naturally out of the earth, forming a spray or body of water.

    The town was founded beside a natural spring that never ran dry.

    Hot springs in the valley attract visitors throughout the winter.

    UsageOften a hot spring, or spring water for water drawn from one.

    Similarsource, fount

    Note

    Water rising from the ground is among the oldest meanings of the noun. Old English spring already meant a wellspring, and Middle English spryng spread to a tide, a branch, sunrise, a dance and a snare. In geology it names the point where the water emerges.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

  4. 4
    verbintransitive
    To jump or move suddenly and energetically, as by leaping, bursting out, or jumping over something.

    Water sprang from the broken pipe and flooded the basement.

    Startled pheasants spring from the tall grass when hikers walk past.

    UsagePast sprang or sprung, past participle sprung. Often with a direction word: spring out of the grass, spring to your feet.

    Similarleap, jump, bound, burst, shoot

    Note

    The idiom spring a leak keeps that sudden burst, with water forcing its way through a new opening.

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

  5. 5
    verbfigurativelyintransitive
    To appear or come into existence suddenly, often unexpectedly.

    Rumors spring up quickly in a small town.

    Within months of the gold strike, dozens of tent towns had sprung up along the river.

    UsageMostly spring up: shops sprang up along the road.

    Similararise, emerge, appear, mushroom, sprout

  6. 6
    verbintransitive
    To be born of, descend from, or originate in a particular source or lineage.

    Both candidates spring from working-class families in the same county.

    Jazz sprang from a blend of African rhythms and European harmony.

    UsageNearly always spring from: sprang from peasant stock, ideas that spring from questions.

    Similarcome, stem, descend, originate, derive

    Note

    Old English springan already meant to sprout forth and emerge, so a lineage is pictured as growth breaking out of a root. It stretches easily from families to ideas. George McCandless, in The ABCs of RBCs (2008), has an economy's time path spring from an equation.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

  7. 7
    political thawnounfigurativelycountable or uncountable
    A time when political freedoms expand and a country moves toward democratic government.

    The country's spring saw opposition parties legalized and political prisoners released.

    Many of the newspapers that flourished during the brief democratic spring were shut down within weeks of the coup.

    UsageCapitalize Spring in established names such as the Prague Spring, the Arab Spring, and the Spring of Nations.

    Similarthaw, liberalization, opening

    Oppositecrackdown, repression

    Note

    A political season named after a place or people. The idea goes back to the Spring of Nations of 1848, the Prague Spring of 1968 set the modern pattern, and the Arab Spring of 2011 revived it. The metaphor promises renewal, which is why it so often describes thaws that turned out to be brief and contested.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

More uses

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Origins

Meanings 4–6, 9–12, 15, 17–18, 20–22

Old English springan, meaning to spring, leap, bounce, sprout forth, or emerge, became Middle English springen. Earlier it goes back through Proto-Germanic *springaną ("to burst forth") to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning to move, race, or spring. A few newer meanings were taken from the noun.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

  • Old English springan had the stated meanings and developed into Middle English springen. en.wiktionary.org
  • The verb descends from Proto-Germanic *springaną, meaning to burst forth. en.wiktionary.org
  • The Proto-Germanic verb derives from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning to move, race, or spring. en.wiktionary.org
  • Some newer meanings of the verb derive from the noun. en.wiktionary.org
Meanings 1–3, 7–8, 13–14, 16, 19, 23

From Middle English spryng, which joined Old English spring ('wellspring') and spryng ('a jump'); other senses came from the verb and from shortenings of day-spring, springtime and spring tide. As the season's name, recorded before 1325, it slowly replaced lenten ('spring, Lent') once that word narrowed to the Church season.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

  • Middle English spryng combined Old English nouns spring ('wellspring') and spryng ('a jump'). en.wiktionary.org
  • Other senses developed from the verb and shortenings of day-spring, springtime and spring tide. en.wiktionary.org
  • The season sense is attested before 1325. en.wiktionary.org
  • Spring gradually replaced the older season name as that name became specifically liturgical. stmarylebow.org.uk
  • Middle English lenten meant both spring and Lent. en.wiktionary.org