Crossword Genius

Bond sprang up to speak (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

weld

'bond' is the definition.
(as in welding things together)

'sprang up to speak' is the wordplay.
'sprang up' becomes 'welled' (as in tears springing or welling).
'to speak' shows a homophone (sound like).
'welled' sounds like 'WELD'.

(Other definitions for weld that I've seen before include "Join together by heating" , "Metal-to-metal join" , "Unite metals by heating to melting point" , "Fuse metal parts" , "Join using fusion" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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