spur
pronunciation
How to pronounce spur in British English:
UK [spɜː(r)]
How to pronounce spur in American English:
US [spɜːr]
-
- Noun:
- a verbalization that encourages you to attempt something
- any pointed projection
- tubular extension at the base of the corolla in some flowers
- a sharp prod fixed to a rider's heel and used to urge a horse onward
- a railway line connected to a trunk line
-
- Verb:
- incite or stimulate
- give heart or courage to
- strike with a spur
- goad with spurs
- equip with spurs
Word Origin
- spur
- spur: [OE] Spur goes back ultimately to Indo- European *sper- ‘hit with the foot, kick’ (source also of English spurn [OE], which originally meant literally ‘hit with the foot, trip over’). From it was descended the prehistoric Germanic noun *spuron, which produced German sporn ‘spur’, Dutch spoor ‘track’ (source of English spoor [19]), and Swedish sporre ‘spur’ as well as English spur.=> spoor, spurn
- spur (n.)
- Old English spura, spora "metal implement worn on the heel to goad a horse" (related to spurnan "to kick"), from Proto-Germanic *spuron (cognates: Old Norse spori, Middle Dutch spore, Dutch spoor, Old High German sporo, German Sporn "spur"), from PIE *spere- "ankle" (see spurn). Related to Dutch spoor, Old English spor "track, footprint, trace." Generalized sense of "anything that urges on, stimulus," is from late 14c. As a sharp projection on the leg of a cock, from 1540s. Meaning "a ridge projecting off a mountain mass" is recorded from 1650s. Of railway lines from 1837. "Widely extended senses ... are characteristic of a horsey race" [Weekley]. Expression on the spur of the moment (1801) preserves archaic phrase on the spur "in great haste" (1520s). To win one's spurs is to gain knighthood by some valorous act, gilded spurs being the distinctive mark of a knight.
- spur (v.)
- c. 1200, from spur (n.). Figurative use from c. 1500. Related: Spurred; spurring. Old English had spyrian, but it meant "follow the track of, track down, investigate."
Example
- 1. First , lower real yields spur borrowing and investment .
- 2. Agricultural fertilizers often drain into aquatic ecosystems and spur a frenzy of growth .
- 3. Can anything be done to spur more world-beating results on the track ?
- 4. Officials say they are trying to spur pockets of redevelopment .
- 5. One spur is economic and political pressure to improve productivity in higher education .