Word.ws English Dictionary

spur

UK/spɜː//spɝ/

spur noun: 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. Also the alternative form of speer.

Noun (1)

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.
    • 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.1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
    • Tvvo 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 a conſiderable length, radiating from and revolving on a center, thence named the rouelle or...1786, Francis Grose, “Tilting Armour”, in A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, […], London: […] S. Hooper, […], →OCLC, page 28
  2. A jab given with the spurs.
    • I had hardly said the word, when Kit jumped into the saddle, and gave his horse a whip and a spur — and off it cantered, as if it were in as great a hurry to be married as Kit himself.1832, The Atheneum, volume 31, page 493
  3. (figuratively) Anything that inspires or motivates, as a spur does a horse.
    • She is a theame of honour and renowne, / A ſpurre to valiant and magnanimous deeds, / Whoſe preſent courage may beate downe our foes, / And fame in time to come canonize us, [...]c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Famous Historie of Troylus and Cresseid. […] (First Quarto), London: […] G[eorge] Eld for R[ichard] Bonian and H[enry] Walley, […], published 1609...
  4. An appendage or spike pointing rearward, near the foot, for instance that of a rooster.
  5. Any protruding part connected at one end, for instance a highway that extends from another highway into a city.
  6. Roots, tree roots.
    • […] the strong-bas'd promontory / Have I made shake; and by the spurs pluck'd up / The pine and cedar […]1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published...
    • I do note / That grief and patience, rooted in them both, / Mingle their spurs together.1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
  7. A mountain that shoots from another mountain or range and extends some distance in a lateral direction, or at right angles.
    • But a narrow spur of rocks arched out and over the hole, ending in an outcrop perhaps a hundred feet across.1986, Terry Pratchett, The Light Fantastic, published 2022, page 121
  8. 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.
  9. A brace strengthening a post and some connected part, such as a rafter or crossbeam; a strut.
  10. The short wooden buttress of a post.
  11. 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.
  12. Ergotized rye or other grain.
Show 7 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. A wall in a fortification that crosses a part of a rampart and joins to an inner wall.
  2. A piece of timber fixed on the bilgeways before launching, having the upper ends bolted to the vessel's side.
  3. A curved piece of timber serving as a half to support the deck where a whole beam cannot be placed.
  4. A branch of a vein.
  5. A very short branch line of a railway line.
  6. A short branch road of a motorway, freeway or major road.
  7. A short thin side shoot from a branch, especially one that bears fruit or, in conifers, the shoots that bear the leaves.

Verb

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

  1. (transitive) To prod (especially a horse) on the side or flank, with the intent to urge motion or haste, to gig.
    • Draw, archers, draw your arrows to the head! Spur your proud horses hard, and ride in blood; Amaze the welkin with your broken staves!c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
  2. (transitive) To urge or encourage to action, or to a more vigorous pursuit of an object
    • My desire / (More sharp than filed steel) did spur me forth...c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
    • But the latest Santa Fe development, while not spurring the Rock Island to any further acceleration, has drawn fire from a totally unexpected quarter.1940 May, “Overseas Railways: Acceleration Proceeds in U.S.A.”, in Railway Magazine, page 298
  3. (transitive) To put spurs on.
    • to spur boots
  4. (intransitive) To press forward; to travel in great haste.
  5. To form a spur (senses 17-18 of the noun)
    • It spurs off the Robin Hood line, providing ten miles of single-line test track with a three-mile double section, capable of testing up to 75mph.2021 June 16, Andrew Mourant, “Plans for new test centre remain on track: Testing for rolling stock and infrastructure”, in RAIL, number 933, page 42

Noun (2)

spur (plural spurs)

  1. A tern.

Noun (3)

spur (plural spurs)

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

Noun (4)

spur (plural spurs)

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

Proper noun capitalized: Spur

Spur (plural Spurs)

  1. An occupational surname from Middle English

Noun (5) capitalized: Spur

Spur (plural Spurs)

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

Also used as

spur is also the alternative form of speer.

spur meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali

spur in Hindi

implement for prodding a horse
महमेज़ mahmez

spur in Marathi

स्पूर, स्पुर

spur in Urdu

implement for prodding a horse
مہمیز mahmez

spur in Bengali

স্পুর
More languagesFewer languages
spur in Telugu
స్పూర్, స్పుర్
spur in Malayalam
സ്പൂർ
spur in Kannada
ಸ್ಪೂರ್, ಸ್ಪುರ್
spur in Gujarati
સ્પુર, સ્પુર કરો, સ્પૂર
spur in Odia
ସ୍ପୁର, ସ୍ପର୍
spur in Assamese
আল al
spur in Nepali
स्पुर, स्पर
spur in Pashto
مهميز mahmíz
spur in Tagalog
tari, espuwelas, tahid
spur in Arabic
مِهْمَاز mihmāz
spur in Malay
pacu, taji
spur in Indonesian
taji, memacu
spur in Persian
مهمیز mahmiz, اسب انگیز asb-angiz
spur in Vietnamese
đinh thúc ngựa, cựa

Examples of spur in a sentence

  • The intent of the aphorism "think globally, act locally" was to spur action by localizing the challenge.
  • After casting the bronze statue, we filed down the flukes and spurs from the molding process.
  • We decided to vacation in Las Vegas on the spur of the moment.

All 40 example sentences with spur

Synonyms of spur

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of spur

Forms of spur

Noun
pluralspurs
pluralSpurs
Verb
third-person singular presentspurs
present participlespurring
past participlespurred
pastspurred
Proper noun
pluralSpurs

Past tense of spur: spurred

Plural of spur: spurs

Origin of spur

From Middle English spure, spore, from Old English spora, spura, from Proto-West Germanic *spurō, from Proto-Germanic *spurô, from Proto-Indo-European *sperH- (“to kick”).

See sparrow.

Short for spurious.

Words formed from spur

Phrases with spur

Words that rhyme with spur

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about spur

What does spur mean?
Spur means 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.
What is spur in Hindi?
Spur in Hindi is महमेज़ (mahmez). See Spur meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is spur?
Spur can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce spur?
Spur is pronounced /spɜː/ (UK).
What is the plural of spur?
The plural of spur is spurs.

Words near spur in the dictionary

  1. spunkys
  2. spunlaced
  3. spunlaid
  4. spunmelt
  5. spunmelts
  6. spur
  7. spur cell
  8. spur cells
  9. spur gear
  10. spur gearing
  11. spur gearings

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: spur (page history and authors); Spur (page history and authors); spur (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); spur (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); spur (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); spur (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); spur (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); spur (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); spur (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); spur (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-spur.ogg.

Cite this entry: “spur.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/spur. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.