'To spring the luff' definitions:

Definition of 'To spring the luff'

From: 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. [1913 Webster]
2. To produce or disclose suddenly or unexpectedly; as, to spring a surprise on someone; to spring a joke. [1913 Webster]
She starts, and leaves her bed, and springs a light. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
The friends to the cause sprang a new project. --Swift. [1913 Webster]
3. To cause to explode; as, to spring a mine. [1913 Webster]
4. To crack or split; to bend or strain so as to weaken; as, to spring a mast or a yard. [1913 Webster]
5. To cause to close suddenly, as the parts of a trap operated by a spring; as, to spring a trap. [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
7. To pass over by leaping; as, to spring a fence. [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]