What does bedspring mean?
A bedspring is one of the coiled metal springs that provide support in a bed, typically arranged in a lattice or packed into a box-spring base beneath the mattress. The word is most often met in the plural — 'the bedsprings squeaked' — evoking the creak of an older, well-worn bed. Bedsprings became widespread in the nineteenth century as mass-produced steel coils replaced rope, straw, and feather mattresses, and they remain central to innerspring mattress design today. Beyond its literal sense, the word appears figuratively to describe anything tightly coiled or springy, such as very curly hair. With its domestic, slightly nostalgic connotations, 'bedspring' is a concrete, everyday noun: useful for describing furniture, sleep, and household wear, and instantly recognizable through the familiar image of a squeaking, sagging, or poking wire coil beneath a mattress.
nounOne of the coiled metal springs used to support the mattress in a bed, especially as part of a spring base or box-spring unit; also used figuratively for anything resembling such a coil.
- A single coiled metal spring forming part of a bed's support structure beneath or within a mattress.
- Figurative use: something that coils or bounces like a bedspring (e.g. tightly curled hair).
"The old mattress sagged because one of the bedsprings had snapped."
"He flipped the mattress and found a rusted bedspring poking through the fabric."
"Her curls were wound so tight they looked like tiny bedsprings."
The plural is the more common form, since the springs of a bed are normally referred to collectively; the singular typically denotes one individual coil.
"Every time he turned over, the bedsprings announced it to the whole house."
Before inner-spring mattresses took over, a whole 'bed' of bedsprings was stretched across a frame like a trampoline — which is why creaking springs became shorthand for a restless night.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of bedspring
Bedspring is a straightforward English compound of 'bed' (from Old English 'bedd') and 'spring' (from Old English 'springan', meaning to leap or burst forth), with the noun 'spring' coming to denote a coiled elastic device. The compound arose naturally once coiled steel supports entered bedding manufacture, becoming common in the nineteenth century. It shares its second element with words such as 'springboard', 'offspring', and 'handiwork-era derivatives of the same Germanic root seen in 'springy'.
How bedspring is actually used
Usually encountered in the plural ('bedsprings') when referring to the springs of a bed collectively; the singular is common when describing a single broken or protruding coil. The word has a slightly old-fashioned, domestic register.
Easily confused with bedspring
A box spring is the entire framed unit of springs beneath a mattress, while a bedspring is an individual coil within such a structure.