to spring a mast

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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