spur

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)

  1. An example of spur is a prize that drives someone to win the race.
  2. 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.

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See spur in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

  1. any of various pointed devices worn on the heel by the rider of a horse and used to urge the horse forward
  2. anything that urges, impels, or incites; stimulus to action
  3. 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.
  4. 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
  5. spur track
  6. 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

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

intransitive verb

  1. to spur one's horse
  2. to hurry; hasten

Related Forms:

See spur in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun
  1. A short spike or spiked wheel that attaches to the heel of a rider's boot and is used to urge a horse forward.
  2. Something that serves as a goad or incentive.
  3. 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.
  4. A lateral ridge projecting from a mountain or mountain range.
  5. An oblique reinforcing prop or stay of timber or masonry.
  6. Botany A tubular or saclike extension of the corolla or calyx of a flower, as in a columbine or larkspur.
  7. An ergot growing on rye.
  8. A spur track.
verb spurred spurred, spur·ring, spurs
verb, transitive
  1. To urge (a horse) on by the use of spurs.
  2. To incite or stimulate: “A business tax cut is needed to spur industrial investment” (New York Times).
verb, intransitive
  1. To ride quickly by spurring a horse.
  2. To proceed in haste.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English spure

Origin: , from Old English spura; see sperə- in Indo-European roots

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