sprung

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of spring.

   By morning, mushrooms had sprung up across the damp lawn.

   The lock was sprung open by the force of the blast.

   Note

   Two past forms compete here. In perfect and passive constructions this is the only choice: had sprung up, was sprung open. For the simple past, standard usage prefers sprang, though sprung is common in informal speech and has a long literary pedigree. Jane Austen writes of "an enquiry which sprung from the impatience of her mind" in Sense and Sensibility (1811), using spring in its sense of "arise."

2. 2
   adjective

   Fitted or cushioned with springs.

   The workshop restored the sofa's sprung base to its original comfort.

   Dance studios often install a sprung floor to absorb the impact of landings.

   Note

   Engineers use this adjective in the phrase the sprung weight of a vehicle, meaning the weight carried on the springs. In everyday speech it describes furniture and floors: a sprung mattress, a sprung floor. Beware its near-opposite twin. A sprung mattress has working springs, but a sprung money clip is one whose spring has given out (the worn-out meaning). Context, and usually the noun, tells you which is meant.

3. 3
   adjective

   Worn out so that the bounciness or springiness is gone.

   The mechanic replaced the car's sprung suspension, which had lost all its give.

   An old, sprung trampoline barely lifts you off the ground anymore.

   Similarworn, saggy, slack

   Oppositebouncy, springy, taut

4. 4
   adjectiveslang

   Completely infatuated with someone; wholly taken over by romantic interest.

   Ever since their first date, he's been completely sprung.

   She got sprung the moment he smiled at her across the room.

   Similarsmitten, infatuated, besotted, hooked, lovestruck

   Oppositeindifferent

   Note

   Hip-hop and R&B lyrics carried this African-American Vernacular slang into the mainstream, from Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Baby Got Back" (1992) to Beyoncé's "Crazy In Love" (2003). It usually comes in a get or got construction: you get sprung, someone has you sprung, you're sprung over someone. Its first, literal meaning was a penile erection. That origin still colors it, so it suits casual talk and lyrics rather than polite company.

5. 5
   adjectiveslangAustralia

   Caught in the act of doing something illegal or against the rules.

   The pair were sprung trying to climb over the back fence after hours.

   He got sprung selling fake tickets outside the stadium.

   Similarcaught, busted, nicked

   Note

   Australian slang that works perfectly well as a one-word exclamation, shouted at the moment of discovery. In Gabrielle Carey and Kathy Lette's Puberty Blues (1979), a character simply cries "Sprung!" In a full sentence it usually takes get: you get sprung, or someone gets sprung doing something. It belongs to schoolyard and street talk, where the person doing the catching is often a teacher, a parent or the police.

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