spring-loaded
Americanadjective
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In the lower right of the steering wheel, the metallic, spring-loaded Manettino selector engages one of five drive modes, including Sport mode and Electronic Stability Control Off.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 18, 2026
Many past attempts have featured metal rods inserted into lava, pushed by hand or by spring-loaded piston, or even fired into the lava like a spear, to estimate the viscosity of the flow.
From Science Daily • Jun. 4, 2024
There was a whoosh of air as the spring-loaded gate valve opened.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 1, 2023
It’s like the spring-loaded dread that accompanies the final notes of “Pop Goes the Weasel.”
From Washington Post • Sep. 8, 2022
A moment later Miss Peregrine’s eyes flew open and she began to toddle around, her head swiveling mechanically and legs kicking out as if spring-loaded.
From "Hollow City" by Ransom Riggs
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
