spring runn.
/ˌsprɪŋ ˈrʌn/, U.S. /ˈˌsprɪŋ ˈrən/ 1. U.S. A stream fed by a spring (cf. run n.2 24b).
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1804 J. Ordway Jrnl. 2 Sept. in Jrnls. Lewis & Clark Exped. (1995) IX. 53 We found plumb orchads [sic] on a Spring run.
1883 Cent. Mag. Nov. 111/1 Cold spring-runs were abundant, wild flowers few, grass universal.
1913 J. K. Small & J. J. Carter Flora Lancaster County 174 I[mpatiens] biflora Walt... Common, in swamps and on banks of spring-runs.
1999 B. P. Stearns & S. C. Stearns Watching, from Edge of Extinction ix. 193 We always find it [sc. the Barton Springs salamander] right at the springheads..whereas most of the other spring species tend to be found throughout the spring runs.
2. A mass migration of fish, typically from the sea into freshwater spawning grounds, occurring in spring (cf. run n.2 7). Frequently attributive, designating such fish.
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1845 J. J. Brown Amer. Angler's Guide x. 163 To your line [should be attached]..a leader, from three to six feet in length, double for fall fishing, and single for the spring run.
1874 S. F. Baird Rep. Commissioner U.S. Comm. Fish & Fisheries 1872–3 187 in U.S. Congress. Serial Set (42nd Congr., 3rd Sess.: Senate Misc. Doc. No. 74, Pt. 2) There are three annual runs of salmon up the main Sacramento; the spring run, beginning in March; the summer run, beginning in August, and the winter run, beginning in November.
1880 F. Buckland et al. Rep. Dis. Salmon 100 Has seen clean spring-run salmon and trout killed by the disease.
1968 J. Hay Sandy Shore vi. 28 A spring run of fresh-water herring or alewives, migrating from salt water to spawn, may be found there.
2015 Hereford Times (Nexis) 30 June We've seen the best catch of spring run salmon for two decades.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, January 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1804