The Collaborative International Dictionary
Springal \Spring"al\ (spr[i^]ng"al), Springald \Spring"ald\
(spr[i^]ng"ald), Springall \Spring"all\ (spr[i^]ng"al), n.
An active, springy young man. [Obs.] ``There came two
springals of full tender years.''
--Spenser.
Joseph, when he was sold to Potiphar, that great man,
was a fair young springall.
--Latimer.
Springal \Spring"al\, n. [OF. espringale; of Teutonic origin, akin to E. spring.] An ancient military engine for casting stones and arrows by means of a spring.
Wiktionary
n. 1 (context obsolete English) An ancient military engine for launching stones and arrows by means of a spring. 2 (alternative form of springald English)
Usage examples of "springal".
Who a sprightly springal loved, And to have it fully proved Up she got upon a wall Tempting to slide down withal: But the silken twist untied, So she fell: and, bruised, she died.
The double springal sent shudders through the whole machine as it flung loads of missiles out across the fields.
Miliana had to shout above the awful clatter of hooves, springal winches, and catapult wheels inside the belly of the wagon.
A javelin, tarred and flaming, snapped from some springal, thudded into the stem castle.
They bent to the wind, the big sergeant trudging behind them, and passed great springals and catapults, all covered in waxed cotton canvas and squatting in their redoubts like patient beasts.
Amongst the rest, which in that space befell,There came two Springals of full tender yeares,Farre thence from forrein land, where they did dwell,To seeke for succour of her and of her PearesWith humble prayers and intreatfull teares.
If onagri or springals lay unassembled in the hold they were not yet being brought to the deck.