Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Spring \Spring\, v. i. [imp. {Sprang}or {Sprung}; p. p.
   {Sprung}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Springing}.] [AS. springan; akin
   to D. & G. springen, OS. & OHG. springan, Icel. & Sw.
   springa, Dan. springe; cf. Gr. ? to hasten. Cf. {Springe},
   {Sprinkle}.]
   1. To leap; to bound; to jump.

            The mountain stag that springs From height to
            height, and bounds along the plains.  --Philips.

   2. To issue with speed and violence; to move with activity;
      to dart; to shoot.

            And sudden light Sprung through the vaulted roof.
                                                  --Dryden.

   3. To start or rise suddenly, as from a covert.

            Watchful as fowlers when their game will spring.
                                                  --Otway.

   4. To fly back; as, a bow, when bent, springs back by its
      elastic power.

   5. To bend from a straight direction or plane surface; to
      become warped; as, a piece of timber, or a plank,
      sometimes springs in seasoning.

   6. To shoot up, out, or forth; to come to the light; to begin
      to appear; to emerge; as a plant from its seed, as streams
      from their source, and the like; -often followed by up,
      forth, or out.

            Till well nigh the day began to spring. --Chaucer.

            To satisfy the desolate and waste ground, and to
            cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth.
                                                  --Job xxxviii.
                                                  27.

            Do not blast my springing hopes.      --Rowe.

            O, spring to light; auspicious Babe, be born.
                                                  --Pope.

   7. To issue or proceed, as from a parent or ancestor; to
      result, as from a cause, motive, reason, or principle.

            [They found] new hope to spring Out of despair, joy,
            but with fear yet linked.             --Milton.

   8. To grow; to prosper.

            What makes all this, but Jupiter the king, At whose
            command we perish, and we spring?     --Dryden.

   {To spring at}, to leap toward; to attempt to reach by a
      leap.

   {To spring forth}, to leap out; to rush out.

   {To spring in}, to rush in; to enter with a leap or in haste.
      

   {To spring on} or {upon}, to leap on; to rush on with haste
      or violence; to assault.