- spring´a|ble
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–v.i.1. to rise or move suddenly and lightly; leap or jump: »
to spring to attention. I sprang to my feet. The dog sprang at the thief. He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle (Clement C. Moore).
SYNONYM(S): bound, vault.2. to fly back or away as if by elastic force: »The door sprang to. The branch sprang up when I dropped from it.
SYNONYM(S): rebound, recoil.3. to be flexible, resilient, or elastic; be able to spring: »This branch springs enough to use as a snare.
4. to come from some source; arise; grow: »A wind has sprung up. Plants spring from seeds.Figurative. The alliance sprang from their mutual peril.
SYNONYM(S): emerge, emanate.5. to derive by birth or parentage; be descended; be the issue of: »He springs from New England stock.
6. to begin to move, act, or grow suddenly; burst forth: »Towns sprang up where oil was discovered. Sparks sprang from the fire.
7. to crack, split, warp, bend, strain, or break: »Cracks all along the concrete wall showed where it had sprung.
9. to take a curving or slanting upward course from some point of support. Arches, vaults, and rafters are said to spring.10. to rise from cover, as partridges do.11. of a mine: a) to explode. b) to be exploded.–v.t.1. to cause to spring; cause to act by a spring: »to spring a trap.
2. Figurative. to bring out, produce, or make suddenly: »to spring a surprise on someone.
3. Figurative. to announce or reveal suddenly and usually unexpectedly: »to spring the news of an engagement.
4. to force open, apart, or out of position; crack, split, warp, bend, or break: »Cracks all along the surface showed where frost had sprung the rock wall.
»Miles of travel along rocky roads had sprung the wagon shaft. The burglar was able to spring the lock quite easily.
5. to jump over: »to spring a distance of 12 feet, to spring a wall.
6. to cause (partridges or other birds or game) to rise from cover: »I would throw her off, wait until she was up, and spring the birds (T. H. White).
7. to provide or fit with a spring or springs: »to spring a watch or a carriage.
8. Slang. to secure the release of (a person) from prison by bail or otherwise: »After a stretch in a Parma jail, [he] was sprung conditionally, time off for good behavior (Time).
–n.2. the distance covered or that can be covered by a spring.3. an elastic device that returns to its original shape after being pulled or held out of shape. A spring consists of one or more strips or plates, usually of metal, bent, coiled, or otherwise shaped or adjusted. Springs are variously used to communicate or regulate motion and lessen concussion. »Beds have wire springs. The springs in a watch make it go.
4. elastic quality or capacity; elasticity: »There is no spring left in these old rubber bands.Figurative. The old man's knees have lost their spring.
SYNONYM(S): resiliency, buoyancy.5. a) a flying back or recoil from a forced position: »the bow well bent, and smart the spring (William Cowper).
b) Figurative. something that produces action; moving force or motive: »the springs of progress.
6. the season of the year after winter, when plants begin to grow in the temperate and colder regions of the earth (in North America, the months of March, April, and May; in Great Britain, February, March, and April): »O, Wind, If Winter comes, can Spribe far behind? (Shelley).
7. Astronomy. the three months between the vernal equinox and the summer solstice.8. Figurative. the first and freshest or most vigorous stage of anything, especially of life; period of youth: »Young people are in the spring of life.
9. a stream of water flowing naturally from the earth: »The largest springs…where the water flows underground in cavelike channels (Eldred D. Wilson).
11. a crack, split, warp, bend, strain, or break, especially a vertical split or transverse crack as in a mast or spar of a ship or other vessel.12. the point at which an arch or vault springs or rises from its abutment or impost; rise of an arch: »It was just under five feet above the floor at the spring of the vaulting, a little over seven feet down the middle (Oliver La Farge).
13. Scottish. a quick or lively tune: »Robin took the pipes, and played a little spring (Robert Louis Stevenson).
–adj.1. fitted with a spring or springs; operating by means of springs: »a spring balance.
2. hung or suspended on springs: »a spring cart.
3. of or having to do with the season of spring: »Probably the most welcome of all flowers are the spring flowers.
4. characteristic of or suitable for the season of spring: »spring weather, new spring hats.
5. from a spring: »spring salts.
● ↑spring a leak,● ↑spring a mine,╂[Old English springan to move suddenly; come to sight; grow up]–spring´a|ble, adjective.–spring´less, adjective.
Useful english dictionary. 2012.
