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.
Once released, the spring-loaded snare launches the ant more than 30 centimeters upward into the spider's main web.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 26, 2026
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
The story’s romance is appropriately spring-loaded with improbability.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 28, 2023
There was a whoosh of air as the spring-loaded gate valve opened.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 1, 2023
I was stuffing the cups into their spring-loaded dispenser when Trent Bolger’s hyena laugh rang through the open doorway.
From "Darius the Great Is Not Okay" by Adib Khorram
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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.