By spring in dire trouble, lose hope (7)
I believe the answer is:
despair
'lose hope' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'by spring in dire trouble' is the wordplay.
'by spring' becomes 'spa' (spa can mean a mineral spring. I am not sure about the 'by' bit.).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'trouble' indicates an anagram.
'dire' is an anagram of 'deir'.
'spa' placed into 'deir' is 'DESPAIR'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for despair that I've seen before include "First appearance" , "Despondency" , "gloom" , "Hopeless" , "Complete absence of hope" .)