spur

[ spur ]

/ spɜr /

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See synonyms for: spur / spurred / spurring / spurs on Thesaurus.com

noun

a U-shaped device that slips over and straps to the heel of a boot and has a blunt, pointed, or roweled projection at the back for use by a mounted rider to urge a horse forward.

anything that goads, impels, or urges, as to action, speed, or achievement.

Also called climbing spur . climbing iron.

Ornithology. a stiff, usually sharp, horny process on the leg of various birds, especially the domestic rooster, or on the bend of the wing, as in jacanas and screamers.

Pathology. a bony projection or exostosis.

a sharp piercing or cutting instrument fastened to the leg of a gamecock in cockfighting; gaff.

something that projects and resembles or suggests a gaff; sharp projection.

Physical Geography. a ridge or line of elevation projecting from or subordinate to the main body of a mountain or mountain range.

a short or stunted branch or shoot, as of a tree.

Typography. a short, seriflike projection from the bottom of the short vertical stroke in the capital G in some fonts.

wing dam.

Botany.

a slender, usually hollow, projection from some part of a flower, as from the calyx of the larkspur or the corolla of the violet.
Also called spur shoot . a short shoot bearing flowers, as in fruit trees.

Architecture.

a short wooden brace, usually temporary, for strengthening a post or some other part.
any offset from a wall, as a buttress.
griffe².

Ceramics. a triangular support of refractory clay for an object being fired.

Railroads. spur track.

verb (used with object), spurred, spur·ring.

to prick with or as if with a spur or spurs; incite or urge on: The rider spurred his mount ruthlessly. Appreciation spurs ambition.

to strike or wound with the spur, as a gamecock.

to furnish with spurs or a spur.

verb (used without object), spurred, spur·ring.

to goad or urge one's horse with spurs or a spur; ride quickly.

to proceed hurriedly; press forward: We spurred onward through the night.

OTHER WORDS FOR spur

2 goad, incitement, stimulus, incentive, inducement, provocation, instigation.

16 goad, provoke, stimulate, impel, inspire, induce, instigate.

See synonyms for spur on Thesaurus.com

OPPOSITES FOR spur

16 discourage.

See antonyms for spur on Thesaurus.com

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Idioms about spur

on the spur of the moment, without deliberation; impulsively; suddenly: We headed for the beach on the spur of the moment.

win one's spurs, to achieve distinction or success for the first time; prove one's ability or worth: Our team hasn't won its spurs yet.

Origin of spur

First recorded before 900; Middle English noun spore, spor(re), Old English spora, spura; cognate with Old High German sporo, Old Norse spori “spur”; verb derivative of the noun; akin to spurn

OTHER WORDS FROM spur

spurless, adjectivespurlike, adjectivespurrer, noun

Other definitions for spur (2 of 2)

spur²

[ spur ]

/ spɜr /

noun Papermaking.

a batch of newly made rag-paper sheets.

Origin of spur

First recorded in 1880–85; origin uncertain

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use spur in a sentence

Companies facing massive technology shifts have two choices—bet the company on the next era, or collect cash in a shrinking industry before hanging up your spurs.
GM just sped up the depreciation of everything it owns|Michael J. Coren|January 30, 2021|Quartz
Construction would then proceed around the Beltway to the I-270 spur and up I-270.
Maryland narrows Beltway, I-270 expansion options to adding four toll lanes to each|Katherine Shaver|January 27, 2021|Washington Post
He published simulations in 1977 that produced digital clouds lining up with the spur, and ever since then he has told anyone who would listen that the spur actually hovers tens of thousands of light-years above the disk.
Galaxy-Size Bubbles Discovered Towering Over the Milky Way|Charlie Wood|January 6, 2021|Quanta Magazine
Yet Yoshiaki Sofue, an astronomer at the University of Tokyo, has always thought the spur looked funky for a stellar debris cloud.
Galaxy-Size Bubbles Discovered Towering Over the Milky Way|Charlie Wood|January 6, 2021|Quanta Magazine

Blood spattered the ground, but Ray’s boots still had their spurs.
A CIA spyplane crashed outside Area 51 a half-century ago. This explorer found it.|Sarah Scoles|January 5, 2021|Popular-Science
“I think I sometimes acted as a spur, even though the spurring was not always wanted or welcome,” she said.
Channeling Eleanor|Eleanor Clift|September 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Digital innovation should be spurring the creation of new competitive companies.
How a Few Monster Tech Firms are Taking Over Everything from Media to Space Travel and What it Means for the Rest of Us|Joel Kotkin|February 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
When news of the talks leaked to the press, however, Papandreou abruptly pulled out, spurring a round of bitter recriminations.
Bromance Subplot to Greek Crisis|David A. Graham|November 5, 2011|DAILY BEAST
The nuclear crisis has rallied a weary nation, but also risks spurring discrimination against the contaminated.
The Human Fallout for Japan|Peter Wynn Kirby|March 26, 2011|DAILY BEAST
The U.S., allied with Afghans, helped defeat the advance of the Red Army in Afghanistan spurring the end of the Cold War.
Don't Listen to Experts on Afghanistan|Masood Aziz|May 28, 2010|DAILY BEAST
But something he couldn't put his finger on was spurring Delancy to get clear of the scene of the crime as soon as possible.
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942|Various
Back came Captain Jackson, spurring his horse, his face white with fright.
The Courier of the Ozarks|Byron A. Dunn
In spurring from one part of the field to another, his aide-de-camp and much-loved companion, Lieut.-Col.
Stone's River|Wilson J. Vance
And Orso, spurring his horse, rode rapidly in the direction to which the little girl had pointed.
Columba|Prosper Merimee
It was cruel work spurring and lashing them over heavy ploughed land to-day.
In the Ranks of the C.I.V.|Erskine Childers

British Dictionary definitions for spur

spur

/ (spɜː) /

noun

a pointed device or sharp spiked wheel fixed to the heel of a rider's boot to enable him to urge his horse on

anything serving to urge or encouragethe increase in salary was a spur to their production

a sharp horny projection from the leg just above the claws in male birds, such as the domestic cock

a pointed process in any of various animals; calcar

a tubular extension at the base of the corolla in flowers such as larkspur

a short or stunted branch of a tree

a ridge projecting laterally from a mountain or mountain range

a wooden prop or a masonry reinforcing pier

another name for groyne

Also called: spur track a railway branch line or siding

a short side road leading off a main roada motorway spur

a sharp cutting instrument attached to the leg of a gamecock

on the spur of the moment on impulse

win one's spurs

history to earn knighthood
to prove one's ability; gain distinction

verb spurs, spurring or spurred

(tr) to goad or urge with or as if with spurs

(intr) to go or ride quickly; press on

(tr) to injure or strike with a spur

(tr) to provide with a spur or spurs

Word Origin for spur

Old English spura; related to Old Norse spori, Old High German sporo

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for spur

spur

[ spûr ]

A small ridge that projects sharply from the side of a larger hill or mountain.

A projection from a bone, as on the heel of the foot.

Other Idioms and Phrases with spur

spur

In addition to the idiom beginning with spur

spur on

also see:

on the spur of the moment
win one's spurs

spur

OTHER WORDS FOR spur

OPPOSITES FOR spur

Idioms about spur

Origin of spur

OTHER WORDS FROM spur

Other definitions for spur (2 of 2)

Origin of spur

Words related to spur

How to use spur in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for spur

Word Origin for spur

Scientific definitions for spur

Other Idioms and Phrases with spur