springe

American  

[sprinj] / sprɪndʒ /

noun

1. a snare for catching small game.

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verb (used with object)

springed, springing

1. to catch in a springe.

verb (used without object)

springed, springing

1. to set a springe or springes.

springe British  

/ sprɪndʒ /

noun

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

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verb

1. (intr) to set such a snare

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

Etymology

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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

springe springed springing

A rare eye, too, is his at the setting of a springe for woodcocks, or tracking a maukin on the snow.

From Recreations of Christopher North, Volume 2 by John Wilson

"Snipes!" says Bridget; "deft art thou, fosterling, to take them without either springe or stonebow, and they all flittering like butterflies on a March day."

From The Sundering Flood by May Morris

Gentlemen, when the police have strong suspicions against a person whose reputation is above reproach and whose conduct affords no opportunity for impeachment, they set a springe for him.

From The Sword of Damocles A Story of New York Life by Anna Katharine Green

Be caught like a bird in a springe; everything intended to be hidden from me!

From A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy

“Never tell me of your points of honour,” said Touchwood, raising his voice altogether above the general tone of polite conversation—“all humbug, Captain MacTurk—mere hair-traps to springe woodcocks—men of sense break through them.”

From St. Ronan's Well by Sir Walter Scott

A post-chaise is still a phenomenon in Chagford, the roads and lanes leading to it being so steep and rugged as to be ill adapted for springed vehicles of any sort.

From The Life of Thomas Telford; civil engineer with an introductory history of roads and travelling in Great Britain by Samuel Smiles

You have springed your dottrel, I find, and what is the consequence?—why, that there will be hue and cry after you presently.

From Redgauntlet by Sir Walter Scott

Although somewhat highly springed, the vehicle is so well arranged and padded, that the occupants are seldom hurt by striking against the sides with rough jolting, unless quite helpless.

From Surgical Experiences in South Africa, 1899-1900 Being Mainly a Clinical Study of the Nature and Effects of Injuries Produced by Bullets of Small Calibre by George Henry Makins

They had wintered it and springed it, and clung to it through bright days and dark.

From Four Girls and a Compact by Annie Hamilton Donnell

Witness the beautiful description: "All to once the nor'easter springed out from the land, an' afore us could down-haul the mainsail, the sea wer feather-white an' skatting in over the bows."

From A Poor Man's House by Stephen Sydney Reynolds

The clean subdivisions springing up around McAllen could be in any prosperous suburb in Florida or Arizona.

From Slate ● Nov. 2, 2026

French authorities on Thursday imposed bans or restrictions on fresh protests springing up in the wake of demonstrations last weekend that degenerated into the worst street violence in years.

From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2026

But as soon as the cast is set in motion, the overriding impression is that of a manifesto springing into a college vaudeville.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

An incapacity agreement can further provide the rationale for springing into action.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026

He felt that he was lying in a soft slimy bog, and springing up he set his foot on the corner of a cold hard flagstone.

From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien

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