steel springn.
A spring made of steel (see spring n.1 25). Also transferred and figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > softness > pliableness > [noun] > elasticity > a spring
spring1428
sprint1645
steel spring1680
1680 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. xiv. 242 Two strong Steel Springs.
1855 ‘G. Eliot’ in Westm. Rev. Oct. 460 All these natural muscles and fibres are to be torn away and replaced by a patent steel-spring—anxiety for the ‘glory of God’.
1899 A. Werner Captain of Locusts 3 Even as you looked, those wonderful steel-springs [a locust's hind legs] would bend, and send the creature forward.
Derivatives
steel-spring v. (transitive) to fit with a steel spring.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > softness > pliableness > make pliable [verb (transitive)] > give elasticity to > provide with spring(s)
steel-spring1778
spring1905
1778 W. J. Mickle tr. L. de Camoens Lusiad (ed. 2) ix. 392 Some store the quiver, some steel-spring the bow.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1916; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
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n.1680