Meanings
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1
verb
To run as fast as you can for a short distance.
She sprinted to catch the last bus.
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2
noun
A short, very fast run.
He won the hundred-metre sprint at the school sports day.
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3
noun
A short burst of fast activity or hard work.
The team made a final sprint to finish the project on time.
Thesaurus
Etymology
Alteration of earlier sprent (“to leap; bound; dart”), from Northern Middle English sprenten, from Old Norse *sprenta (for later spretta), from Proto-Germanic *sprantijaną, causative of Proto-Germanic *sprintaną (“to jump up; bounce”), from Proto-Indo-European *sprend-, *sprendʰ- (“to flinch; jump”), from Proto-Indo-European *sper- (“to twitch; fidget; flinch; jump; be quick”). Cognate with Middle High German sprenzen (“to sprinkle; splash”), Swedish spritta (“to startle”), Icelandic spretta (“to spring forth; emerge; arise; develop”).