springs

Noun

spring (countable and uncountable, plural springs)

1. (countable) An act of springing: a leap, a jump.
   • The pris'ner with a spring from prison broke;
     Then stretch'd his feather'd fans with all his might,
     And to the neighb'ring maple wing'd his flight.1700, John Dryden, The Cock and the Fox
2. The season of the year in temperate regions in which temperatures and daylight hours rise, and plants spring from the ground and into bloom and dormant animals spring to life.
   • Spring is the time of the year most species reproduce.

   Synonyms:

   springtime

   1. The period from the moment of vernal equinox (around March 21 in the Northern Hemisphere) to the moment of the summer solstice (around June 21); the equivalent periods reckoned in other cultures and calendars.
      • Chinese New Year always occurs in January or February but is called the "Spring Festival" throughout East Asia because it is reckoned as the beginning of their spring.
   2. The three months of March, April, and May in the Northern Hemisphere and September, October, and November in the Southern Hemisphere.
      • I spent my spring holidays in Morocco.
3. (figuratively, uncountable) The time of something's growth; the early stages of some process.
   • ...and it came to passe about the spring of the day, that Samuel called Saul to the top of the house...1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Samuel 9:26
   1. (figuratively) A period of political liberalization and democratization.
      • Arab Spring

See all 64 meanings of spring