spurn
[ spurn ]
verb (used with object)
to kick or trample with the foot.
verb (used without object)
to show disdain or contempt; scorn something.
noun
disdainful rejection.
contemptuous treatment.
a kick.
Origin of spurn
1First recorded in 1250–1300; (verb) Middle English spurnen, Old English spurnan; cognate with Old Saxon, Old High German spurnan, Old Norse sporna “to kick”; akin to Latin spernere “to put away”; (noun) Middle English: “a kick, contemptuous stroke,” derivative of the verb
synonym study For spurn
1. See refuse1.
Other words for spurn
Opposites for spurn
Other words from spurn
- spurn·er, noun
- out·spurn, verb (used with object)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
British Dictionary definitions for spurn
spurn
/ (spɜːn) /
verb
to reject (a person or thing) with contempt
(when intr, often foll by against) archaic to kick (at)
noun
an instance of spurning
archaic a kick or thrust
Origin of spurn
1Old English spurnan; related to Old Norse sporna, Old High German spurnan, Latin spernere to despise, Lithuanian spiriu to kick
Derived forms of spurn
- spurner, noun
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
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