So moving west to avoid hot spring (6)
I believe the answer is:
sprout
'spring' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
I cannot understand how the rest of the clue works.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for sprout that I've seen before include "Germinate" , "Produce shoots; vegetable" , "Young shoot" , "Start growing" , "Start to grow" .)