Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SPRING, v.i. [pret. sprung, (sprang, not wholly obsolete;) pp. sprang. Sax. springan; D. and G. springen; Dan. springer; Sw. springa; from the root Brg or Rg; n probably being casual. The primary sense is to leap, to shoot.]

1. To vegetate and rise out of the ground; to begin to appear; as vegetables. To satisfy the desolate ground, and cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth. – Job xxxviii. In this sense, spring is often or usually followed by up, forth, or out.
2. To begin to grow. The teeth of the young not sprung. – Ray.
3. To proceed, as from the seed or cause. Much more good of sin shall spring. – Milton.
4. To arise; to appear; to begin to appear or exist. When the day began to spring, they let her go. – Judges xxi. Do not blast my springing hopes. – Rowe.
5. To break forth; to issue into sight or notice. O spring to light; auspicious babe, be born. – Pope.
6. To issue or proceed, as from ancestors or from a country. Aaron and Moses sprung from Levi.
7. To proceed from a cause; reason; principle, or other original. The noblest title springs from virtue. They found new hope to spring / Out of despair. – Milton.
8. To grow; to thrive. What makes all this but Jupiter the king, / At whose command we perish and we spring. – Dryden.
9. To proceed or issue, as from a fountain or source. Water springs from reservoirs the earth. Rivers spring from lakes or ponds.
10. To leap; to bound; to jump. The mountain stag that springs / From highth to highth, and bounds along the plains. – Philips.
11. To fly, back; to start; as, a bow when bent, springs back by its elastic power.
12. To start or rise suddenly from a covert. Watchful as fowlers when their game will spring. – Olway.
13. To shoot; to issue with speed and violence. And sudden light / Sprung through the vaulted roof. – Dryden.
14. To bend or wind from a straight direction or plane surface. Our mechanics say, a piece of timber or a plank springs in seasoning. To spring at, to leap toward; to attempt to reach by a leap. To spring in, to rush in; to enter with a leap or in haste. To spring forth, to leap out; to rush out. To spring on or upon, to leap on; to rush on with haste or violence; to assault.