springe

[ sprinj ]

/ sprɪndʒ /

noun

a snare for catching small game.

verb (used with object), springed, spring·ing.

to catch in a springe.

verb (used without object), springed, spring·ing.

to set a springe or springes.

Nearby words

Origin of springe

1200–50; Middle English, variant of sprenge a snare, literally, something that is made to spring, derivative of sprengen to make spring, Old English sprengan, causative of springan to spring

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for springe

Thus had Amilcare been sold by his own purchase, and thus Grifone griped in his own springe.
Little Novels of Italy|Maurice Henry Hewlett
Bow-traps are especially favoured, but the springe for birds and the pitfalls for large animals are not despised.
The Races of Man|Joseph Deniker
Two woodcocks in one springe—Marchioness Aldini and the family of Lebrenn.
The Sword of Honor, volumes 1 & 2|Eugne Sue
During this discussion Ellangowan was somewhat like a woodcock caught in his own springe.
Guy Mannering, or The Astrologer, Complete, Illustrated|Sir Walter Scott

And briefly he sketched for her the springe he was setting with the help of Mr. Newlington.
Mistress Wilding|Rafael Sabatini

British Dictionary definitions for springe

springe

/ (sprɪndʒ) /

noun

a snare set to catch small wild animals or birds and consisting of a loop attached to a bent twig or branch under tension

verb

(intr) to set such a snare

(tr) to catch (small wild animals or birds) with such a snare

Word Origin for springe

C13: related to Old English springan to spring

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012