spring 
Whan Gonnore tins saugh, she xjiruntje for loye. 
M,;-/i,i (E. E. T. 8.), n. 210. 
They would often spring, and huiinil, and leap, with pro- 
digious agility. Surfft, Gulliver's Travels, iv. 1. 
2. To move with leaps; bound along; rush. 
Than spronge forth Gawein and his companye a-monge 
the fori-evours, that many were there slain and wounded. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), iii. 587. 
The horses, tprimjiitg from uniler the whip of the char- 
ioteer, soon bore us frcmi the great entrance of the palace 
into the midst of the throng that crowded the streets. 
W. Ware, Zenobia, I. 58. 
Specifically 3. Tostartup; rise suddenly, as 
a bin! from a covert. 
Watchful as fowlers when their game will spring. 
Otway, Venice Preserved, i. 1. 
4. To be impelled with speed or violence; 
shoot; fly; dart. 
And sudden light 
Sprung through the vaulted roof. Dryclen. 
The blood sprang to her face. 
Tennyson, Lancelot and Elaine. 
Out sprang his bright steel at that latest word. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, II. 285. 
5. To start, recoil, fly back, etc., as from a 
forced position; escape from constraint; give; 
relax ; especially, to yield to natural elasticity 
or to the force of a spring. See spring, n.,9. 
Thor (Jacob] wrestelede an engel with, 
Senwe [sinew] sprungen fro the lith [limb]. 
Genesis and Exodus (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1804. 
No sooner are your . . . appliances withdrawn than 
the strange casket of a heart springs to again. 
Carlyle, Sartor Resartus, ii. 6. 
6. To be shivered or shattered; split; crack. 
Whene his spere was sprongene, he spede hym f ulle serne, 
Swappede owtte with a swerde, that swykede hym never. 
MorteArthure (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1794. 
East and Tom were chatting together in whispers by 
the light of the fire, and splicing a favourite old fives bat 
which had sprung. T. Hughes, Tom Brown at Rugby, i. 9. 
7. To come into being; begin to grow; shoot 
up; come up; arise; specifically, of the day, 
to dawn: said of any kind of genesis or begin- 
ning, and often followed by up. 
The derke was done & the day sprange. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 1076. 
Hadst thou sway'd as kings should do, ... 
Giving no ground unto the house of York, 
They never then had sprung like summer flies. 
SAafr.,3Hen. VI., ii. 6. 17. 
In the night, when the Land winds came, they anchored, 
and lay still till about 10 or 11 a Clock the next day, at 
which time the Sea-breeze usually sprang up again, and 
enabled them to continue their Course. 
Dampier, Voyages, II. i. 106. 
Alone the sun arises, and alone 
Spring the great streams. 
M . Arnold, In Utrumque Paratus. 
8. To take one's birth, rise, or origin (from or 
out of any one or any thing) ; be derived ; pro- 
ceed, as from a specified source, stock, or set 
of conditions. 
This folc, sprungen of Israel, 
Is vnder God timed wel. 
Genesis and Exodus (E. E. T. S.), 1. 4023. 
My only love sprung from my only hate ! 
Shale., R.and J., i.5. 140. 
9f. To come into view or notice ; be spread by 
popular report ; gain fame or prevalence. 
Thus withinne a whyle his name is spronge 
Bothe of his dedes and his goode tonge. 
Chaucer, Knight's Tale, 1. 579. 
The word shal springen of him into Coloyne. 
Flemish Insurrection (Child's Ballads, VI. 271). 
10. To rise above a given level; have a rela- 
tively great elevation ; tower. 
Up from their midst springs the village spire, 
With the crest of its cock in the sun afire. 
Whittier, Prophecy of Samuel Sewall. 
Above this springs the roof, semicircular in general sec- 
tion, but somewhat stilted at the sides, so as to make its 
height greater than the semi-diameter. 
J. Fergusson, Hist. Indian Arch., p. 119. 
11. To warp, or become warped ; bend or wind 
from a straight line or plane surface, as a piece 
of timber or plank in seasoning. 
The battens are more likely to spring fairly than when 
the curves are nearly straight. Thearle, Naval Arch., 21. 
12. To bend to the oars and make the boat leap 
or spring forward, as in an emergency: often 
in the form of an order: as, "Spring ahead 
hard, men ! " Springing bow. In violin-playing, a stac- 
cato passage, producedby dropping the bow on the strings 
so that it rebounds by its own elast icity. is said to be played 
with a springing bow. Also called tpiccato, and, when the 
bow rebounds to a considerable distance, saltato. = Syn. 
Leap, Jump, etc. See stop', p. . 
II. (ran*. 1. To cause to leap or dart; urge 
or launch at full speed. 
So they spede at the spoures, they sprangene theire horses, 
Hyres theme hakenayes hastyly there aftyre. 
Marie Arthure (E. E. T. S.), 1. 483. 
5863 
I spring my thoughts into this immense field. 
J. Uerrrii. .Meditations, II. 129. 
2. To start or rouse, as game; cause to rise 
from the earth or from a covert ; flush : as, to 
spring a pheasant. 
The men sprange the birdes out of the busshes, and the 
haukes sorynge oiler them bete them doune, so that the 
men mought easily take them. 
Sir T. Elijnt, The Oovernour, i. 18. 
Here 's the master fool, and a covey of coxcombs; one 
wise man, I think, would spring you all. 
Greene, Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay. 
3. To bring out hastily or unexpectedly; pro- 
duce suddenly ; bring, show, contrive, etc., with 
unexpected promptness, or as a surprise. 
I may perhaps spring a wife for you anon. 
B. Junson, Bartholomew Fair, v. 3. 
Surprised with fright, 
She starts and leaves her bed, and springs a light. 
Dryden, tr. of Ovid's Metamorph., x. 153. 
The friends to the cause sprang a new project. Smft. 
It 's a feast at a poor country labourer's place when he 
springs sixpenn'orth of fresh herrings. 
Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, I. 63. 
4. To jump over; overleap. 
Far be the spirit of the chase from them [women] ! 
Uncomely courage, unbeseeming skill; 
To spring the fence, to rein the prancing steed. 
Thomson, Autumn, 1. 575. 
5f. To cause to spring up or arise ; bring forth : 
generate. 
Two wellis there bethe, I telle thee, 
That spryngqythe oyle, there men may see. 
Political Poems, etc. (ed. Furnivall), p. 142. 
Their indulgence must not spring in me 
A fond opinion that he cannot err. 
B. Jonson, Every Man in his Humour, i. 1. 
6f. To scatter as in so wing; strew about; shed 
here and there ; sprinkle (a liquid). 
Before theise Ydoles men sleen here Children many 
tymes, and spryngen the Blood upon the Ydoles; and so 
thei maken here Sacrifise. Mandealle, Travels, p. 170. 
7. To sprinkle, as with fine drops, particles, 
or spots ; especially, to moisten with drops of a 
liquid : as, to spring clothes. [Now only prov. 
Eng.] 
With holi water thou schalt me springe, 
And as the snowe I sehal be whyt. 
Political Poems, etc. (ed. Furnivall), p. 253. 
8. To shiver; split; crack: as, to spring a bat ; 
the mast was sprung. 
Our shippes [were] in very good plight, more then that 
the Mary Rose, by some mischance, either sprang or spent 
her fore-yarde. Hakluyt's Voyages, I. 609. 
9. To cause to burst or explode ; discharge. 
I sprung a mine, whereby the whole nest was over- 
thrown. Addison, Spectator. 
10. To shift out of place ; relax ; loosen. 
The linch-pins of the wagon are probably lost, and the 
tire of the wheels sprung. II. B, Stowe, Oldtown, p. 178. 
Specifically 11. To relax the spring of ; cause 
to act suddenly by means of a spring ; touch 
off, as by a trigger: as, to spring a trap; to 
spring a rattle; also figuratively: as, to spring 
a plot or a joke. 
He shall weave his snares, 
And spring them on thy careless steps. 
Bryant, Antiquity of Freedom. 
12. To bend by force, as something stiff or 
strong. 13. To insert, as a beam in a place too 
short for it, by bending it so as to bring the ends 
nearer together, and allowing it to straighten 
when in place : usually with in : as, to spring in 
a slat or bar. 14. In arch., to commence from 
an abutment or pier: as, to spring an arch. 15. 
Naut., to haul by means of springs or cables: 
as. to spring the stern of a vessel around. 
16. In carp., to unite (the boards of a roof) with 
bevel-joints in order to keep out wet To spring 
a butt (naut.). See im2._ To spring a leak. See leak. 
To spring her luff (naut. ). See lu/2. 
spring (spring), . and a. [< ME. spring, springe, 
a leap, spreng, sprynge, a spring (of water), a 
rod, a sprig, < AS. si>ring, spryng, a leap, a 
spring, fountain, ulcer, = OS. spring (in aho- 
spring = AS. e-spryng, a well, 'water-spring') 
= OFries. spring (in spedelspring) = MLG. 
sprink = OHG. spring, sprung, MHG. sprinc, 
sprunc, G. spring, a spring of water (cf. sprung, 
a leap), = Sw. Dan. spring, a leap, run, spring 
(cf . Sw. sprdng, a leap, bound, water-spring) ; 
from the verb: see spring, v.~\ I. n. 1. The act 
of springing or leaping, (a) A leaping or darting ; a 
vault ; a bound. 
The Indian immediately started back, whilst the lion 
rose with a spring, and leaped towards him. 
Addison, Spectator, No. 56. 
(6) A flying back ; the resilience of a body recovering its 
former state by its elasticity. 
The bow well bent, and smart the spring. 
Cowper, Human Frailty. 
spring 
2. The act or time of springing or appearing; 
the first appearance; the beginning: birth; 
rise; origin: as, the sprint/ of mankind; the 
sprint/ of the year; the spring of the morning 
or of the day (see rJaynpriny). [Archaic except 
as in def. 3 and its figurative use.] 
Men, if we view them in their spring, are at the first 
without understanding or knowledge at all. 
Hooker, Eccles. Polity, i. 6. 
This river taketh spring out of a certain lake eastward. 
D. Jonson, Masque of Blackness. 
So great odds there is between the Spring and Fall of 
Fortune. Baker, Chronicles, p. 126. 
At morning spring and even-full 
Sweet voices in the still air singing. 
Whittier, Mogg Megone, II. 
Specifically 3. The first of the four seasons 
of the year ; the season in which plants begin 
to vegetate and rise; the vernal season (see 
season); hence, figuratively, the first and fresh- 
est period of any time or condition. 
Rough winter spent, 
The pleasant spring straight draweth in ure. 
Surrey, The Louer Comforteth Himself. 
My hasting days fly on with full career, 
But my late spring no bud or blossom shew'th. 
Milton, Sonnets, ii. 
4. That which springs or shoots up. (at) A 
sprout; shoot; branch; sapling. 
Springii and plantes, any spryg that growl out of any 
tree. Arnold's Chron., p. 168. 
This canker that eats up Love's tender spring. 
Shak., Venus and Adonis, 1. 656. 
(&) A young wood ; any piece of woodland ; a grove ; a 
shrubbery. [Obsolete or prov. Eng.] 
When the spring is of two years' growth, draw part of 
it for quick-seta. Evelyn, Sylva, III. viii. 23. 
(ct) A rod ; a switch. 
For ho so spareth the spring spilleth bus children ; 
And so wrot the wise to wissen us alle. 
Piers Plowman (C), vi. 139. 
5f. A youth ; a springal. 
The one his bowe and shafts, the other Spring 
A burning Teade about his head did move. 
Spenser, Muiopotmos, 1. 292. 
Ca' me nae mair Sir Donald, 
But ae spring Donald your son. 
LizU Lindsay (Child's Ballads, IV. 65). 
6t. Offspring; race. 
Who on all the human spring conferred confusion. 
Chapman. (Imp. Diet.) 
7. Water rising to the surface of the earth from 
below, and either flowing away in the form of 
a small stream or standing as a pool or small 
lake. Rivers are chiefly fed, both before and after being 
Joined by their various affluents, by underground springs, 
and some pools of water large enough to be called ponds 
or even lakes are supplied in the same way. The condi- 
tions under which springs are formed are exceedingly va- 
riable, at once as regards the quantity of water, its tem- 
perature, the amount and nature of the gaseous and solid 
substances which it holds in solution, and the manner in 
which it is delivered at the surface ; hence springs are va- 
riously designated in accordance with these peculiarities, 
the most familiar terms used for this purpose being shal- 
low, simple, common, or surface; hot, boiling, thermal; min- 
eral, medicinal; and spouting, or geyser, as this kind of 
spring is more generally called. Shallow or surface springs 
ordinarily furnish water which is pretty nearly pure, can 
be used for drinking, and does not differ much in tem- 
perature from the mean of the locality where they occur. 
They are due to the fact that the water falling on the surface 
in the form of rain, or furnished by melting snow, sinks 
to a certain depth (according as the soil and underlying 
rocks are more or less porous or permeable), where it is 
held in greater or less quantity according to the amount 
of rainfall and the thickness and relative position of 
the various permeable and impermeable formations with 
which it is brought In contact, but seeks under the influ- 
ence of gravitation to escape, and makes its appearance 
at tie surface when the topographical or geological con- 
ditions are favorable. Thus, a bed of gravel or sand rest- 
ing on a mass of clay (the former being very permeable, 
the latter almost impermeable) will become saturated 
with water below a certain depth, the distance from the 
surface of the saturated sand or gravel, or the line of 
saturation, as it is called, varying with the climate and 
season. If, however, there be an adjacent ravine or val- 
ley which is cut deep enough to expose the line of junc- 
tion of the permeable and impermeable formations, the 
water will escape along this line in greater or less quanti- 
ty, giving rise to springs, which will vary in number and 
copiousness with the varying conditions which present 
themselves. The water of such springs, not having de- 
scended to any great depth, will not vary much in tem- 
perature from the mean of the locality. Very different 
are the conditions in the case of thermal or hot springs, 
which may have any temperature up to boiling, and of 
which the water may have been heated either by coming 
from great depths or by contact with volcanic rocks ; hence 
thermal springs are phenomena very characteristic of vol- 
canic and geologically disturbed or faulted regions, and 
those hot springs which are of the geyser type (see geyser) 
are most interesting from the scenic point of view. The 
medicinal properties and curative effects of various hot 
springs are of great practical importance ; and many such 
springs, in Europe and the United States, are places 
much resorted to by invalids and pleasure-seekers. The 
variety of constituents, both solid and gaseous, held in 
solution by different hot springs is very great. From 
the medicinal point of viewpsprlngs are variously class!- 
