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Webster 1913 Edition

Spur

Spur

(spûr)
,
Noun.
[See
Sparrow
.]
(Zool.)
(a)
A sparrow.
[Scot.]
(b)
A tern.
[Prov. Eng.]

Spur

,
Noun.
[OE.
spure
,
spore
, AS.
spura
,
spora
; akin to D.
spoor
, G.
sporn
, OHG.
sporo
, Icel.
spori
, Dan.
spore
, Sw.
sporre
, and to AS.
spor
a trace, footstep,
spyrian
to trace, track, examine, and E.
spurn
. √171. Cf.
Sparrow
,
Spere
,
Spoor
,
Spurn
.]
1.
An implement secured to the heel, or above the heel, of a horseman, to urge the horse by its pressure. Modern spurs have a small wheel, or rowel, with short points. Spurs were the badge of knighthood.
And on her feet a pair of
spurs
large.
Chaucer.
2.
That which goads to action; an incitement.
Fame is the
spur
that the clear spirit doth raise
(That last infirmity of noble mind)
To scorn delights and live laborious days.
Milton.
3.
Something that projects; a snag.
4.
One of the large or principal roots of a tree.
Shak.
5.
(Zool.)
Any stiff, sharp spine, as on the wings and legs of certain birds, on the legs of insects, etc.; especially, the spine on a cock’s leg.
6.
A mountain that shoots from any other mountain, or range of mountains, and extends to some distance in a lateral direction, or at right angles.
7.
A spiked iron worn by seamen upon the bottom of the boot, to enable them to stand upon the carcass of a whale, to strip off the blubber.
8.
(Carp.)
A brace strengthening a post and some connected part, as a rafter or crossbeam; a strut.
9.
(Arch.)
(a)
The short wooden buttress of a post.
(b)
A projection from the round base of a column, occupying the angle of a square plinth upon which the base rests, or bringing the bottom bed of the base to a nearly square form. It is generally carved in leafage.
10.
(Bot.)
(a)
Any projecting appendage of a flower looking like a spur.
Gray.
(b)
Ergotized rye or other grain.
[R.]
11.
(Fort.)
A wall that crosses a part of a rampart and joins to an inner wall.
12.
(Shipbuilding)
(a)
A piece of timber fixed on the bilge ways before launching, having the upper ends bolted to the vessel's side.
(b)
A curved piece of timber serving as a half beam to support the deck where a whole beam can not be placed.
Spur fowl
(Zool.)
,
any one of several species of Asiatic gallinaceous birds of the genus
Galloperdix
, allied to the jungle fowl. The males have two or more spurs on each leg.
–
Spur gear
(Mach.)
,
a cogwheel having teeth which project radially and stand parallel to the axis; a spur wheel.
–
Spur gearing
,
gearing in which spur gears are used. See under
Gearing
.
–
Spur pepper
.
(Bot.)
See the Note under
Capsicum
.
–
Spur wheel
.
Same as
Spur gear
, above.

Spur

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Spurred
(spûrd)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Spurring
.]
1.
To prick with spurs; to incite to a more hasty pace; to urge or goad;
as, to
spur
a horse
.
2.
To urge or encourage to action, or to a more vigorous pursuit of an object; to incite; to stimulate; to instigate; to impel; to drive.
Love will not be
spurred
to what it loathes.
Shakespeare
3.
To put spurs on;
as, a
spurred
boot
.

Spur

,
Verb.
I.
To spur on one's horse; to travel with great expedition; to hasten; hence, to press forward in any pursuit.
“Now spurs the lated traveler.”
Shak.
The Parthians shall be there,
And,
spurring
from the fight, confess their fear.
Dryden.
The roads leading to the capital were covered with multitudes of yeomen,
spurring
hard to Westminster.
Macaulay.
Some bold men, . . . by
spurring
on, refine themselves.
Grew.

Webster 1828 Edition

Spur

SPUR

,
Noun.
1.
An instrument having a rowel or little wheel with sharp points, worn on horsemens heels, to prick the horses for hastening their pace.
Girt with rusty sword and spur.
Hence, to set spurs to a horse, is to prick him and put him upon a run.
2.
Incitement; instigation. The love of glory is the spur to heroic deeds.
3.
The largest or principal root of a tree; hence perhaps, the short wooden buttress of a post; [that is, in both cases, a shoot.]
4.
The hard pointed projection on a cocks leg, which serves as an instrument of defense and annoyance.
5.
Something that projects; a snag.
6.
In America, a mountain that shoots from any other mountain or range of mountains, and extends to some distance in a lateral direction, or at right angles.
7.
That which excites. We say, upon the spur of the occasion; that is, the circumstances or emergency which calls for immediate action.
8.
A sea swallow.
9.
The hinder part of the nectary in certain flowers, shaped like a cocks spur.
10.
A morbid shoot or excrescence in grain, particularly in rye.
11.
In old fortifications, a wall that crosses a part of the rampart and joins to the town wall.

SPUR

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To prick with spurs; to incite to a more hasty pace; as, to spur a horse.
2.
To incite; to instigate; to urge or encourage to action, or to a more vigorous pursuit of an object. Some men are spurred to action by the love of glory, others by the love of power. Let affection spur us to social and domestic duties.
3.
To impel; to drive.
Love will not be spurrd to what it lothes.
4.
To put spurs on.
Spurs of the beams, in a ship, are curving timbers, serving as half beams to support the deck, where whole beams cannot be used.

SPUR

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To travel with great expedition.
The Parthians shall be there, and spurring from the fight, confess their fear. [Unusual.]
2.
To press forward.
Some bold men--by spurring on, refine themselves.

Definition 2024

Spur

Spur

See also: spur, špur, and șpur

English

Noun

Spur ‎(plural Spurs)

  1. (soccer) someone connected with Tottenham Hotspur FC, as a fan, player, coach etc.

German

Etymology

Proto-Germanic *spurą. Cognate to English spoor.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ʃpuːɐ̯]
  • Rhymes: -uːɐ̯

Noun

Spur f ‎(genitive Spur, plural Spuren)

  1. trace
  2. lane
  3. (mathematics) trace
  4. (music) track

Declension

Derived terms

spur

spur

See also: Spur, špur, and șpur

English

Western-style cowboy spurs

Noun

spur ‎(plural spurs)

  1. A rigid implement, often roughly y-shaped, that is fixed to one's heel for the purpose of prodding a horse. Often worn by, and emblematic of, the cowboy or the knight.
    • 1598, William Shakespeare, Henry V, Act IV, Scene VI, line 4:
      Lives he, good uncle? thrice within this hour I saw him down; thrice up again, and fighting; From helmet to the spur all blood he was.
    • 1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 22:
      Two sorts of spurs seem to have been in use about the time of the Conquest, one called a pryck, having only a single point like the gaffle of a fighting cock; the other consisting of a number of points of considerable length, radiating from and revolving on a center, thence named the rouelle or wheel spur.
  2. Anything that inspires or motivates, as a spur does to a horse.
  3. An appendage or spike pointing rearward, near the foot, for instance that of a rooster.
  4. Any protruding part connected at one end, for instance a highway that extends from another highway into a city.
  5. Roots, tree roots.
    • 1609, William Shakespeare, Cymbeline, Act IV, Scene II, line 57:
      I do note / That grief and patience, rooted in them both, / Mingle their spurs together.
    • 1610, The Tempest, by Shakespeare, act 5 scene 1
      [...] the strong-bas'd promontory
      Have I made shake; and by the spurs pluck'd up
      The pine and cedar […]
  6. A mountain that shoots from another mountain or range and extends some distance in a lateral direction, or at right angles.
  7. A spiked iron worn by seamen upon the bottom of the boot, to enable them to stand upon the carcass of a whale to strip off the blubber.
  8. (carpentry) A brace strengthening a post and some connected part, such as a rafter or crossbeam; a strut.
  9. (architecture) The short wooden buttress of a post.
  10. (architecture) A projection from the round base of a column, occupying the angle of a square plinth upon which the base rests, or bringing the bottom bed of the base to a nearly square form. It is generally carved in leafage.
  11. Ergotized rye or other grain.
  12. A wall in a fortification that crosses a part of a rampart and joins to an inner wall.
  13. (shipbuilding) A piece of timber fixed on the bilgeways before launching, having the upper ends bolted to the vessel's side.
  14. (shipbuilding) A curved piece of timber serving as a half to support the deck where a whole beam cannot be placed.
  15. (mining) A branch of a vein.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations

Verb

spur ‎(third-person singular simple present spurs, present participle spurring, simple past and past participle spurred)

  1. To prod (especially a horse) on the side or flank, with the intent to urge motion or haste, to gig.
    • 1592, William Shakespeare, Richard III, Act V, Scene III, line 339:
      Draw, archers, draw your arrows to the head! Spur your proud horses hard, and ride in blood; Amaze the welkin with your broken staves!
  2. To urge or encourage to action, or to a more vigorous pursuit of an object; to incite; to stimulate; to instigate; to impel; to drive.
    • 1599, William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, Act III, Scene IV, line 4.
      My desire / (More sharp than filed steel) did spur me forth...
    • 2014 November 17, Roger Cohen, “The horror! The horror! The trauma of ISIS [print version: International New York Times, 18 November 2014, p. 9]”, in The New York Times:
      What is unbearable, in fact, is the feeling, 13 years after 9/11, that America has been chasing its tail; that, in some whack-a-mole horror show, the quashing of a jihadi enclave here only spurs the sprouting of another there; that the ideology of Al Qaeda is still reverberating through a blocked Arab world whose Sunni-Shia balance (insofar as that went) was upended by the American invasion of Iraq.
  3. To put spurs on; as, a spurred boot.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

See sparrow.

Noun

spur ‎(plural spurs)

  1. (Scotland) A sparrow.
  2. A tern.

Etymology 3

Short for spurious.

Noun

spur ‎(plural spurs)

  1. (electronics) A spurious tone, one that interferes with a signal in a circuit and is often masked underneath that signal.

Etymology 4

Noun

spur ‎(plural spurs)

  1. The track of an animal, such as an otter; a spoor.

Etymology

From Old English spora.

Pronunciation

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