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Spur   /spər/   Listen
noun
Spur  n.  (Zool.)
(a)
A sparrow. (Scot.)
(b)
A tern. (Prov. Eng.)


Spur  n.  
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."
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."
3.
Something that projects; a snag.
4.
One of the large or principal roots of a tree.
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.
(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.
13.
(Mining) A branch of a vein.
14.
The track of an animal, as an otter; a spoor.
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.


verb
Spur  v. t.  (past & past part. spurred; pres. part. 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."
3.
To put spurs on; as, a spurred boot.


Spur  v. 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." "The Parthians shall be there, And, spurring from the fight, confess their fear." "The roads leading to the capital were covered with multitudes of yeomen, spurring hard to Westminster." "Some bold men,... by spurring on, refine themselves."





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Spur" Quotes from Famous Books



... airport," Coburn explained, "I bent a pin around the band of a ring I wear. I could let it lie flat when I shook hands. Or I could make it stand out like a spur. I set it with my thumb. I saw Pangalos' eyes, so I had it stand out, and I made a tear in his plastic skin when I shook hands with him. He didn't feel it, of course." He paused. "Did anybody go to the address ...
— The Invaders • William Fitzgerald Jenkins
... and refining on his own feelings, and forced from the natural bias of his disposition by the strangeness of his situation. He seems incapable of deliberate action, and is only hurried into extremities on the spur of the occasion, when he has no time to reflect—as in the scene where he kills Polonius; and, again, where he alters the letters which Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are taking with them to England, purporting his death. At other times, when he ...
— The Best of the World's Classics, Vol. V (of X) - Great Britain and Ireland III • Various
... little farther on a large crowd indicates further thrills. Presently there is a splash and Charley Chaplin has disappeared into a fountain with two policemen in pursuit. Once while we were motoring we came to a disused railway spur, and were surprised to find a large and fussy engine getting up steam while a crowd blocked the road for some distance. A lady in pink satin was chained to the rails—placed there by the villain, who was smoking cigarettes in the offing, ...
— The Smiling Hill-Top - And Other California Sketches • Julia M. Sloane
... the mine, taken by Tommy and his chum crossed a network of tracks, led up to the weigh-house and so on into the breaker. As they came to a line of empty cars standing on a spur they heard a movement in one of the empties ...
— Boy Scouts in the Coal Caverns • Major Archibald Lee Fletcher
... And it's sweet to hear the tales the troopers tell, To dance with blowzy housemaids at the regimental hops And thrash the cad who says you waltz too well. Yes, it makes you cock-a-hoop to be "Rider" to your troop, And branded with a blasted worsted spur, When you envy, O how keenly, one poor Tommy being cleanly Who blacks your boots and ...
— Verses 1889-1896 • Rudyard Kipling


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