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
5. 1. griffe
   2. a buttress, as of masonry, or any similar structure
   3. a short wooden reinforcing piece; brace; strut
6. spur track
7. Bot. a slender, tubelike structure formed by a basal extension of one or more petals or sepals, often serving as a nectar receptacle; calcar

Etymology: 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 spur′·ring

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