[f. SPRING sb.1 25 a.]
1. A common form of lock in which a spring presses the bolt outwards, thus rendering it self-locking except when secured by a catch.
1485. Rec. St. Mary at Hill (1905), 29. Also ther be xxx spryng lockes & keyes.
1602. Middleton, Blurt, Master-Constable, II. ii. All the hinges, the spring-locks, and the ring, are worn to pieces.
1677. Moxon, Mech. Exerc., 21. Chamber-door Locks, called Spring-Locks.
1722. De Foe, Plague (1884), 117. The Gate … having a Spring Lock fastened it self.
1821. Scott, Kenilw., xli. He had fled to this place of concealment, forgetting the key of the spring-lock.
1862. Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit., II. No. 6197, Spring lock for front doors.
2. A lock that opens on pressing a spring.
1820. Keats, Cap & Bells, lvii. He … Touch’d a spring-lock, and there in wool, or snow,… lay an old And legend-leaved book.
