Word.ws English Dictionary

one swallow does not make a spring

one swallow does not make a spring is the alternative form of one swallow does not a summer make.

Meaning of one swallow does not a summer make

Proverb

one swallow does not a summer make

  1. One instance of an event (such as the arrival of a single bird) does not necessarily indicate a trend.
    • [T]hough one swallow does not make a summer, one engagement is apt to make several, and her boys were, most of them, at the inflammable age when a spark ignites the flame[.]1886, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, chapter 9, in Jo’s Boys, and How They Turned Out. A Sequel to “Little Men.”, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, →OCLC

Questions about one swallow does not make a spring

What is one swallow does not make a spring the alternative form of?
One swallow does not make a spring is the alternative form of one swallow does not a summer make.

Words near one swallow does not make a spring in the dictionary

  1. one step at a time
  2. one step forward, two steps back
  3. one strike and you're out
  4. one swallow does not a spring make
  5. one swallow does not a summer make
  6. one swallow does not make a spring
  7. one swallow does not make a summer
  8. one swallow doesn't a spring make
  9. one swallow doesn't a summer make
  10. one swallow doesn't make a spring
  11. one swallow doesn't make a summer

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: one swallow does not make a spring (page history and authors); one swallow does not a summer make (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “one swallow does not make a spring.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/one_swallow_does_not_make_a_spring. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.