Spring (sprĭng), v. t. 1. To cause to spring up; to start or rouse, as game; to cause to rise from the earth, or from a covert; as, to spring a pheasant.
2. To produce or disclose suddenly or unexpectedly.
She starts, and leaves her bed, and springs a light. Dryden.
The friends to the cause sprang a new project. Swift.
3. To cause to explode; as, to spring a mine.
4. To crack or split; to bend or strain so as to weaken; as, to spring a mast or a yard.
5. To cause to close suddenly, as the parts of a trap operated by a spring; as, to spring a trap.
6. To bend by force, as something stiff or strong; to force or put by bending, as a beam into its sockets, and allowing it to straighten when in place; — often with in, out, etc.; as, to spring in a slat or a bar.
7. To pass over by leaping; as, to spring a fence.
To spring a butt(Naut.), to loosen the end of a plank in a ship's bottom. — To spring a leak(Naut.), to begin to leak. — To spring an arch(Arch.), to build an arch; — a common term among masons; as, to spring an arch over a lintel. — To spring a rattle, to cause a rattle to sound. See Watchman's rattle, under Watchman. — To spring the luff(Naut.), to ease the helm, and sail nearer to the wind than before; — said of a vessel. Mar. Dict. — To spring amast or spar(Naut.), to strain it so that it is unserviceable.