spur
1a U-shaped device that slips over and straps to the heel of a riding boot and has a blunt or pointed metal part projecting from the back: used by a mounted rider to urge a horse forward by pressing the projection against the horse’s flank.
anything that urges or drives someone to act, hurry, etc.: A passion to win the championship was the spur that galvanized him to train like never before.
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. bone spur.
a sharp piercing or cutting instrument fastened to the leg of a gamecock in cockfighting; gaff.
anything resembling this instrument; a sharp projection or attachment.
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.
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.
Ceramics. a triangular support of refractory clay for an object being fired.
Railroads. spur track.
to prick or urge with or as if with a spur or spurs; incite or drive (often used with on): The rider spurred his mount into a wild gallop.Their encouragement spurred her on to achieve even more.
(of a gamecock) to strike or wound with a spur.
to furnish with spurs or a spur.
to goad or urge one's horse on with spurs or a spur; ride quickly: Horsemen spurred along every road to carry the news over the country.
to proceed hurriedly; press forward: We spurred onward through the night.
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
1Other words for spur
Opposites for spur
Other words from spur
- spur·less, adjective
- spur·like, adjective
- spur·rer, noun
Other definitions for spur (2 of 2)
a batch of newly made rag-paper sheets.
Origin of spur
2Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
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 | QuartzConstruction 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 PostHe 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 MagazineYet 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 MagazineBlood 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.
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 | THE DAILY BEASTWhen news of the talks leaked to the press, however, Papandreou abruptly pulled out, spurring a round of bitter recriminations.
The nuclear crisis has rallied a weary nation, but also risks spurring discrimination against the contaminated.
The U.S., allied with Afghans, helped defeat the advance of the Red Army in Afghanistan spurring the end of the Cold War.
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.
Back came Captain Jackson, spurring his horse, his face white with fright.
The Courier of the Ozarks | Byron A. DunnIn spurring from one part of the field to another, his aide-de-camp and much-loved companion, Lieut.-Col.
Stone's River | Wilson J. VanceAnd Orso, spurring his horse, rode rapidly in the direction to which the little girl had pointed.
Columba | Prosper MerimeeIt 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
/ (spɜː) /
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 encourage: the 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 road: a 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
(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
Origin of spur
1Collins 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
[ 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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Other Idioms and Phrases with spur
In addition to the idiom beginning with spur
- spur on
also see:
- on the spur of the moment
- win one's spurs
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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