from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Spring \Spring\, n. [AS. spring a fountain, a leap. See
{Spring}, v. i.]
1. A leap; a bound; a jump.
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The prisoner, with a spring, from prison broke.
--Dryden.
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2. A flying back; the resilience of a body recovering its
former state by its elasticity; as, the spring of a bow.
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3. Elastic power or force.
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Heavens! what a spring was in his arm! --Dryden.
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4. An elastic body of any kind, as steel, India rubber, tough
wood, or compressed air, used for various mechanical
purposes, as receiving and imparting power, diminishing
concussion, regulating motion, measuring weight or other
force.
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Note: The principal varieties of springs used in mechanisms
are the {spiral spring} (Fig. a), the {coil spring}
(Fig. b), the {elliptic spring} (Fig. c), the
{half-elliptic spring} (Fig. d), the {volute spring},
the {India-rubber spring}, the {atmospheric spring},
etc.
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5. Any source of supply; especially, the source from which a
stream proceeds; an issue of water from the earth; a
natural fountain. "All my springs are in thee." --Ps.
lxxxvii. 7. "A secret spring of spiritual joy." --Bentley.
"The sacred spring whence right and honor streams." --Sir
J. Davies.
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6. Any active power; that by which action, or motion, is
produced or propagated; cause; origin; motive.
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Our author shuns by vulgar springs to move
The hero's glory, or the virgin's love. --Pope.
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7. That which springs, or is originated, from a source; as:
(a) A race; lineage. [Obs.] --Chapman.
(b) A youth; a springal. [Obs.] --Spenser.
(c) A shoot; a plant; a young tree; also, a grove of
trees; woodland. [Obs.] --Spenser. Milton.
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8. That which causes one to spring; specifically, a lively
tune. [Obs.] --Beau. & Fl.
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9. The season of the year when plants begin to vegetate and
grow; the vernal season, usually comprehending the months
of March, April, and May, in the middle latitudes north of
the equator. "The green lap of the new-come spring."
--Shak.
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Note: Spring of the astronomical year begins with the vernal
equinox, about March 21st, and ends with the summer
solstice, about June 21st.
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10. The time of growth and progress; early portion; first
stage; as, the spring of life. "The spring of the day."
--1 Sam. ix. 26.
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O how this spring of love resembleth
The uncertain glory of an April day. --Shak.
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11. (Naut.)
(a) A crack or fissure in a mast or yard, running
obliquely or transversely.
(b) A line led from a vessel's quarter to her cable so
that by tightening or slacking it she can be made to
lie in any desired position; a line led diagonally
from the bow or stern of a vessel to some point upon
the wharf to which she is moored.
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{Air spring}, {Boiling spring}, etc. See under {Air},
{Boiling}, etc.
{Spring back} (Bookbinding), a back with a curved piece of
thin sheet iron or of stiff pasteboard fastened to the
inside, the effect of which is to make the leaves of a
book thus bound (as a ledger or other account or blank
book) spring up and lie flat.
{Spring balance}, a contrivance for measuring weight or force
by the elasticity of a spiral spring of steel.
{Spring beam}, a beam that supports the side of a paddle box.
See {Paddle beam}, under {Paddle}, n.
{Spring beauty}.
(a) (Bot.) Any plant of the genus {Claytonia}, delicate
herbs with somewhat fleshy leaves and pretty
blossoms, appearing in springtime.
(b) (Zool.) A small, elegant American butterfly ({Erora
laeta}) which appears in spring. The hind wings of
the male are brown, bordered with deep blue; those of
the female are mostly blue.
{Spring bed}, a mattress, under bed, or bed bottom, in which
springs, as of metal, are employed to give the required
elasticity.
{Spring beetle} (Zool.), a snapping beetle; an elater.
{Spring box}, the box or barrel in a watch, or other piece of
mechanism, in which the spring is contained.
{Spring fly} (Zool.), a caddice fly; -- so called because it
appears in the spring.
{Spring grass} (Bot.), vernal grass. See under {Vernal}.
{Spring gun}, a firearm discharged by a spring, when this is
trodden upon or is otherwise moved.
{Spring hook} (Locomotive Engines), one of the hooks which
fix the driving-wheel spring to the frame.
{Spring latch}, a latch that fastens with a spring.
{Spring lock}, a lock that fastens with a spring.
{Spring mattress}, a spring bed.
{Spring of an arch} (Arch.) See {Springing line of an arch},
under {Springing}.
{Spring of pork}, the lower part of a fore quarter, which is
divided from the neck, and has the leg and foot without
the shoulder. [Obs.] --Nares.
Sir, pray hand the spring of pork to me. --Gayton.
{Spring pin} (Locomotive Engines), an iron rod fitted between
the springs and the axle boxes, to sustain and regulate
the pressure on the axles.
{Spring rye}, a kind of rye sown in the spring; -- in
distinction from winter rye, sown in autumn.
{Spring stay} (Naut.), a preventer stay, to assist the
regular one. --R. H. Dana, Jr.
{Spring tide}, the tide which happens at, or soon after, the
new and the full moon, and which rises higher than common
tides. See {Tide}.
{Spring wagon}, a wagon in which springs are interposed
between the body and the axles to form elastic supports.
{Spring wheat}, any kind of wheat sown in the spring; -- in
distinction from winter wheat, which is sown in autumn.
[1913 Webster] Springald
Springal