Spring

Ah Spring- my favourite season of all. And what an incredibly versatile word…

“spring (sprɪŋ)

—vb (usually foll by from) (often foll by up) , springs, springing, sprang, sprung, sprung

1. to move or cause to move suddenly upwards or forwards in a single motion
2. to release or be released from a forced position by elastic force: the bolt sprang back
3. (tr) to leap or jump over
4. (intr) to come, issue, or arise suddenly
5. (intr) (of a part of a mechanism, etc) to jump out of place
6. to make (wood, etc) warped or split or (of wood, etc) to become warped or split
7. to happen or cause to happen unexpectedly: to spring a surprise; the boat sprung a leak
8. (intr) to develop or originate: the idea sprang from a chance meeting
9. to be descended: he sprang from peasant stock
10. to come into being or appear suddenly: factories springing up
11. (tr) (of a gun dog) to rouse (game) from cover
12. (intr) (of game or quarry) to start or rise suddenly from cover
13. (intr) to appear to have a strong upward movement: the beam springs away from the pillar
14. to explode (a mine) or (of a mine) to explode
15. (tr) to provide with a spring or springs
16. informal (tr) to arrange the escape of (someone) from prison
17. archaic, poetic or (intr) (of daylight or dawn) to begin to appear

—n

18. the act or an instance of springing
19. a leap, jump, or bound
20. a. the quality of resilience; elasticity; b. (as modifier): spring steel
21. the act or an instance of moving rapidly back from a position of tension
22. a. a natural outflow of ground water, as forming the source of a stream; b. (as modifier): spring water
23. a. a device, such as a coil or strip of steel, that stores potential energy when it is compressed, stretched, or bent and releases it when the restraining force is removed; b. (as modifier): a spring mattress
24. a structural defect such as a warp or bend
25. a. (sometimes capital) the season of the year between winter and summer, astronomically from the March equinox to the June solstice in the N hemisphere and from the September equinox to the December solstice in the S hemisphere; b. (as modifier): spring showers Related: vernal
26. the earliest or freshest time of something
27. a source or origin
28. one of a set of strips of rubber, steel, etc, running down the inside of the handle of a cricket bat, hockey stick, etc
29. nautical Also called: spring line a mooring line, usually one of a pair that cross amidships
30. a flock of teal
31. architect another name for springing

Related: vernal

[Old English springan; related to Old Norse springa, Old High German springan, Sanskrit sprhayati he desires, Old Slavonic pragu grasshopper]

” (from here)

How cool is #30 – “a flock of teal” is also called a “spring of teal”
… hence the text colouring (and yes, I do know a teal is a bird … )!