To spring the luff
(gcide) | Spring \Spring\ (spr[i^]ng), 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.
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2. To produce or disclose suddenly or unexpectedly; as, to
spring a surprise on someone; to spring a joke.
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She starts, and leaves her bed, and springs a light.
--Dryden.
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The friends to the cause sprang a new project.
--Swift.
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3. To cause to explode; as, to spring a mine.
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4. To crack or split; to bend or strain so as to weaken; as,
to spring a mast or a yard.
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5. To cause to close suddenly, as the parts of a trap
operated by a spring; as, to spring a trap.
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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.
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7. To pass over by leaping; as, to spring a fence.
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8. To release (a person) from confinement, especially from a
prison. [colloquial]
[PJC]
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 a mast or To spring a spar (Naut.), to strain
it so that it is unserviceable.
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