springing

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of spring.

   Water came springing out of the broken pipe and soaked the floor.

   The deer went springing across the meadow at the first sound of the truck.

   Note

   One -ing form does two jobs here. After be it is the participle (water was springing from the pipe). In a noun slot it is the gerund (springing from a crouch takes practice). It carries every meaning of spring, from bursting forth to sprouting and, in British dialect, maturing. Once it takes a plural, as in springings, it has stopped being a verb form and become a true noun.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   The act of moving suddenly upward or outward, as by a leap or a released spring.

   The springing of the gymnast off the vault drew gasps from the crowd.

   He timed the springing of the latch to slip out unnoticed.

   Similarjumping, release

3. 3
   adjective

   Having the quality of springing; that moves or rebounds suddenly upward.

   The dancer crossed the stage with a light, springing step.

   A springing coil under the seat absorbed each jolt of the cart.

   Similarbouncy, springy, buoyant, elastic, jaunty

   Oppositeheavy, leaden, plodding

4. 4
   noununcountable

   The collective set of springs fitted in a vehicle or similar machine.

   Engineers redesigned the springing to handle heavier loads.

   The carriage's springing creaked over every cobblestone.

   Similarsuspension

   Note

   An engineer's mass noun: springing names the whole arrangement of springs under a vehicle, not any single one. The components (laminated springs, helical springs, rubbers) are counted, but the system is not. Railway writing grades it, as when Railway Magazine in 1950 praises "the high standard of springing." It also divides it, setting primary suspension against auxiliary springing.

5. 5
   adjectiveUS

   Taking effect only after the grantor's incapacity or some other definite future act or circumstance.

   The springing power of attorney activated the day her doctor certified her incapacity.

   He preferred a springing grant so his agent gained authority only after a defined event.

   Similarcontingent

   Oppositeimmediate

   Note

   American law uses it almost always in one phrase: a springing power of attorney. The document is signed now but lies dormant. The agent's authority springs into force only when the named event occurs, most often the grantor's incapacity. That waiting is the whole point, and it sets this kind of power apart from one that is effective the moment it is signed.

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