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Winter
Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate zones (winter does not occur in most of the tropical zone). It occurs after autumn and before spring in each year. Winter is caused by the axis of the Earth in that hemisphere being oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures define different dates as the start of winter, and some use a definition based on weather. When it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere, it is summer in the Southern Hemisphere, and vice versa. In many regions, winter is associated with snow and freezing temperatures. The moment of winter solstice is when the Sun’s elevation with respect to the North or South Pole is at its most negative value (that is, the Sun is at its farthest below the horizon as measured from the pole). The day on which this occurs has the shortest day and the longest night, with day length increasing and night length decreasing as the season progresses after the solstice. The earliest sunset and latest sunrise dates outside the polar regions differ from the date of the winter solstice, however, and these depend on latitude, due to the variation in the solar day throughout the year caused by the Earth’s elliptical orbit (see earliest and latest sunrise and sunset).
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Spring (verb)
To jump or leap.
“He sprang up from his seat.”
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Spring (verb)
To pass over by leaping.
“ux|en|to spring over a fence (in this sense, the verb spring must be accompanied by the preposition ‘over’.)”
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Spring (verb)
To produce or disclose unexpectedly, especially of surprises, traps, etc.
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Spring (verb)
To release or set free, especially from prison.
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Spring (verb)
To suddenly catch someone doing something illegal or against the rules.
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Spring (verb)
To come into being, often quickly or sharply.
“Trees are already springing up in the plantation.”
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Spring (verb)
To start or rise suddenly, as from a covert.
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Spring (verb)
To cause to spring up; to start or rouse, as game; to cause to rise from the earth, or from a covert.
“to spring a pheasant”
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Spring (verb)
To crack or split; to bend or strain so as to weaken.
“to spring a mast or a yard”
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Spring (verb)
To bend by force, as something stiff or strong; to force or put by bending, as a beam into its sockets, and allowing it to straighten when in place; often with in, out, etc.
“to spring in a slat or a bar”
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Spring (verb)
To issue with speed and violence; to move with activity; to dart; to shoot.
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Spring (verb)
To move suddenly when pressure is released.
“A bow, when bent, springs back by its elastic power.”
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Spring (verb)
To bend from a straight direction or plane surface; to become warped.
“A piece of timber, or a plank, sometimes springs in seasoning.”
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Spring (verb)
To shoot up, out, or forth; to come to the light; to begin to appear; to emerge, like a plant from its seed, a stream from its source, etc.; often followed by up, forth, or out.
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Spring (verb)
To issue or proceed, as from a parent or ancestor; to result, as from a cause, motive, reason, or principle.
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Spring (verb)
To grow; to prosper.
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Spring (verb)
To build (an arch).
“They sprung an arch over the lintel.”
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Spring (verb)
To sound (a rattle, such as a watchman’s rattle).
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Spring (noun)
A leap; a bound; a jump.
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Spring (noun)
Traditionally the first of the four seasons of the year in temperate regions, in which plants spring from the ground and trees come into blossom, following winter and preceding summer.
“Spring is the time of the year most species reproduce.”
“I spent my spring holidays in Morocco.”
“You can visit me in the spring, when the weather is bearable.”
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Spring (noun)
Meteorologically, the months of March, April and May in the northern hemisphere or September, October and November in the southern.
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Spring (noun)
The astronomically delineated period from the moment of vernal equinox, approximately March 21 in the northern hemisphere to the moment of the summer solstice, approximately June 21. (See Spring (season) for other variations.)
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Spring (noun)
Spring tide; a tide of greater-than-average range, that is, around the first or third quarter of a lunar month, or around the times of the new or full moon.
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Spring (noun)
A place where water or oil emerges from the ground.
“This water is bottled from the spring of the river.”
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Spring (noun)
The property of a body of springing to its original form after being compressed, stretched, etc.
“the spring of a bow”
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Spring (noun)
Elastic power or force.
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Spring (noun)
A mechanical device made of bent, compressed or stretched.
“We jumped so hard the bed springs broke.”
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Spring (noun)
An erection of the penis.
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Spring (noun)
The source of an action or of a supply.
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Spring (noun)
Any active power; that by which action, or motion, is produced or propagated; cause; origin; motive.
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Spring (noun)
That which springs, or is originated, from a source.
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Spring (noun)
A race; lineage.
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Spring (noun)
A youth; a springald.
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Spring (noun)
That which causes one to spring; specifically, a lively tune.
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Spring (noun)
The time of growth and progress; early portion; first stage.
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Spring (noun)
A rope attaching the bow of a vessel to the stern-side of the jetty, or vice versa, to stop the vessel from surging.
“You should put a couple of springs onto the jetty to stop the boat moving so much.”
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Spring (noun)
A line led from a vessel’s quarter to her cable so that by tightening or slacking it she can be made to lie in any desired position; a line led diagonally from the bow or stern of a vessel to some point upon the wharf to which she is moored.
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Spring (noun)
A crack or fissure in a mast or yard, running obliquely or transversely.
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Winter (noun)
Traditionally the fourth of the four Hemisphere or the months of June, July and August in the Southern Hemisphere. It is the time when the sun is lowest in the sky, resulting in short days, and the time of year with the lowest atmospheric temperatures for the region.
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Winter (noun)
The period of decay, old age, death, or the like.
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Winter (noun)
An appliance to be fixed on the front of a grate, to keep a kettle warm, etc.
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Winter (verb)
To spend the winter (in a particular place).
“When they retired, they hoped to winter in Florida.”
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Winter (verb)
To store something (for instance animals) somewhere over winter to protect it from cold.