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Definitions

mainspring

[meyn-spring] / ˈmeɪnˌsprɪŋ /












Example Sentences

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The Fountain’s tradition of extending a wide communal embrace, welcoming underrepresented voices and addressing urgent social concerns, is clearly going to be a mainspring of Caldwell’s leadership.

From Los Angeles Times Sep. 24, 2025

That’s the mainspring tension of this six-month baseball thing.

From Washington Post Aug. 14, 2019

The mainspring of the plot, in Chapter 1, establishes the antic tone.

From The New Yorker Jan. 8, 2016

If true, Bicep’s detection of gravitational waves would confirm a theory that the universe began with a violent outward antigravitational swoosh known as inflation, the mainspring of Big Bang theorizing for the last three decades.

From New York Times Sep. 22, 2014

“It’s how my father taught me. If I don’t wind it consistently, it won’t keep time as well. And if I overwind it, the mainspring might break.”

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros




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