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spur

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The definition of a spur is anything that pushes someone or something forward or a device that goes over a shoe during horseback riding for the rider to use to push the horse forward.

(noun)

An example of spur is a prize that drives someone to win the race.
An example of spur is an item that a cowboy wears on his boots.

To spur is defined as to urge on.

(verb)

An example of to spur is to cheer on a friend in a race.

See spur in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

any of various pointed devices worn on the heel by the rider of a horse and used to urge the horse forward
anything that urges, impels, or incites; stimulus to action
something like a spur; specif.,
1. a spinelike process, as on the wings or legs of certain birds
2. a spinelike outgrowth of bone, as on the human heel, resulting from injury, disease, etc.
3. a climbing iron, as used by lumberjacks
4. a sharp metal device attached as a weapon to the leg of a gamecock in a cockfight
5. a short, stunted, or projecting branch or shoot of a tree, etc.
a range or ridge projecting in a lateral direction from the main mass of a mountain or mountain range
1. griffe
2. a buttress, as of masonry, or any similar structure
3. a short wooden reinforcing piece; brace; strut
spur track
Bot. a slender, tubelike structure formed by a basal extension of one or more petals or sepals, often serving as a nectar receptacle; calcar

Origin: ME spure < OE spura, akin to Ger sporn < IE base *sp(h)er-, to jerk, push with the foot > spurn, Sans sphurāti, (he) kicks away, L spernere, lit., to push away

transitive verb spurred, spurring

to strike or prick with a spur or spurs
to urge, incite, or stimulate to action, greater effort, etc.
to provide with a spur or spurs
to strike or injure as with a spur (sense )

intransitive verb

to spur one's horse
to hurry; hasten

Related Forms:

spurrer noun

See spur in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

A short spike or spiked wheel that attaches to the heel of a rider's boot and is used to urge a horse forward.
Something that serves as a goad or incentive.
A spurlike attachment or projection, as:
a. A spinelike process on the leg of some birds.
b. A climbing iron; a crampon.
c. A gaff attached to the leg of a gamecock.
d. A short or stunted branch of a tree.
e. A bony outgrowth or protuberance.
A lateral ridge projecting from a mountain or mountain range.
An oblique reinforcing prop or stay of timber or masonry.
Botany A tubular or saclike extension of the corolla or calyx of a flower, as in a columbine or larkspur.
An ergot growing on rye.
A spur track.