# spring

> English word · Verb · IPA /ˈspɹɪŋ/ · frequency rank #1,286

## Definitions
1. To move or burst forth.
2. To move or burst forth.
3. To move or burst forth.
4. To move or burst forth.
5. To move or burst forth.
6. To move or burst forth.
7. To move or burst forth.
8. To move or burst forth.
9. To move or burst forth.
10. To cause to spring (all senses).
11. To cause to spring (all senses).
12. To leap over.
13. To breed with, to impregnate.
14. To wet, to moisten.
15. To burst into pieces, to explode, to shatter.
16. To go off.
17. To crack.
18. To come upon and flush out.
19. To catch in an illegal act or compromising position.
20. To begin.
21. To put bad money into circulation.
22. To tell, to share.
23. To free from imprisonment, especially by facilitating an illegal escape.
24. To be free of imprisonment, especially by illegal escape.
25. To build, to form the initial curve of.
26. To extend, to curve.
27. To turn a vessel using a spring attached to its anchor cable.
28. To pay or spend a certain sum, to yield.
29. To raise an offered price.
30. Alternative form of sprain.
31. Alternative form of strain.
32. To act as a spring: to strongly rebound.
33. To equip with springs, especially (of vehicles) to equip with a suspension.
34. to inspire, to motivate.
35. To deform owing to excessive pressure, to become warped; to intentionally deform in order to position and then straighten in place.
36. To swell with milk or pregnancy.
37. To sound, to play.
38. To find or get enough food during springtime.

## Etymology
From Middle English springen, from Old English springan (“to spring, leap, bounce, sprout forth, emerge, spread out”), from Proto-West Germanic *springan, from Proto-Germanic *springaną (“to burst forth”), from Proto-Indo-European *spre(n)ǵʰ- (“to move, race, spring”), from *sper- (“to jerk, twitch, snap, shove”).
Cognates
* Saterland Frisian springe
* West Frisian springe
* Dutch springen
* German Low German springen
* German springen
* Danish springe
* Swedish springa
* Norwegian springe
* Faroese springa
* Icelandic springa (“to burst, explode”).
Other possible cognates include Lithuanian spreñgti (“to push (in)”), Old Church Slavonic прѧсти (pręsti, “to spin, to stretch”), Latin spargere (“to sprinkle, to scatter”), Ancient Greek σπέρχω (spérkhō, “to hasten”), Sanskrit स्पृहयति (spṛháyati, “to be eager”). Some newer senses derived from the noun.

## Easily confused with
- **swing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spring-vs-swing)
- **sting** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spring-vs-sting)
- **suing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spring-vs-suing)
- **strong** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spring-vs-strong)
- **string** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spring-vs-string)
- **sprint** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spring-vs-sprint)
- **spying** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spring-vs-spying)
- **sprung** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spring-vs-sprung)
- **strung** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spring-vs-strung)
- **sprite** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spring-vs-sprite)
- **springs** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spring-vs-springs)
- **staring** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spring-vs-staring)
- **strings** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spring-vs-strings)
- **surfing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spring-vs-surfing)
- **storing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spring-vs-storing)
- **syringe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spring-vs-syringe)
- **springer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spring-vs-springer)
- **sing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sing-vs-spring)
- **spin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spin-vs-spring)
- **Spain** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spain-vs-spring)

## Common misspellings (10)
`psring`, `spirng`, `sppring`, `sprign`, `springg`, `sprinng`, `sprnig`, `sprring`, `srping`, `sspring`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/spring