mainspring
Use Mainspring in a sentence
noun
1.
the principal spring in a mechanism, as in a watch.
2.
the chief motive power; the impelling cause.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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Link To mainspring
Collins
World English Dictionary
mainspring (ˈmeɪnˌsprɪŋ) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | the principal power spring of a mechanism, esp in a watch or clock |
| 2. | the chief cause or motive of something |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
00:10
Mainspring
is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes. |
Example sentences
Drugs are a lucrative business and a mainspring of global criminal activity.
If you're not looking at the mainspring, you're only operating on the surface.
But the humor of him who feeds en melancholy is begotten in charity, the mainspring of all genius.
The mechanical timer is a verge type, three-gear timer, powered by a torsional mainspring.
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