spring something on somebody

[Saki6]

Do you call "spring something on somebody" a phrasal verb?

 

[tedmc]

Yes. Have you checked the phrase in the dictionaries?

 

[jutfrank]

I certainly wouldn't. I'd call it a 'verb pattern'.

 

[tedmc]

The following dictionaries call it a phrasal verb:

Cambridge
Longman

 

[emsr2d2]

In that context, I call it a phrasal verb. If you literally jump (spring) on/onto something, then no, but used in the context of surprising someone with something, I consider it a phrasal verb. That meaning can't be discerned by simply looking at the words.