Spur

noun
1.
a U -shaped device that slips over and straps to the heel of a boot and has a blunt, pointed, or roweled projection at the back for use by a mounted rider to urge a horse forward.
2.
anything that goads, impels, or urges, as to action, speed, or achievement.
3.
climbing iron.
4.
Ornithology. a stiff, usually sharp, horny process on the leg of various birds, especially the domestic rooster, or on the bend of the wing, as in jacanas and screamers.
5.
Pathology. a bony projection or exostosis.
6.
a sharp piercing or cutting instrument fastened to the leg of a gamecock in cockfighting; gaff.
7.
Physical Geography. a ridge or line of elevation projecting from or subordinate to the main body of a mountain or mountain range.
8.
something that projects and resembles or suggests a gaff; sharp projection.
9.
a short or stunted branch or shoot, as of a tree.
10.
Typography. a short, seriflike projection from the bottom of the short vertical stroke in the capital G in some fonts.
11.
wing dam.
12.
Botany.

a slender, usually hollow, projection from some part of a flower, as from the calyx of the larkspur or the corolla of the violet.
Also called spur shoot. a short shoot bearing flowers, as in fruit trees.

13.
Architecture.

a short wooden brace, usually temporary, for strengthening a post or some other part.
any offset from a wall, as a buttress.
griffe2 .

14.
Ceramics. a triangular support of refractory clay for an object being fired.
15.
Railroads. spur track.
verb (used with object), spurred, spurring.
16.
to prick with or as if with a spur or spurs; incite or urge on:
The rider spurred his mount ruthlessly. Appreciation spurs ambition.
17.
to strike or wound with the spur, as a gamecock.
18.
to furnish with spurs or a spur.
verb (used without object), spurred, spurring.
19.
to goad or urge one’s horse with spurs or a spur; ride quickly.
20.
to proceed hurriedly; press forward:
We spurred onward through the night.
Idioms
21.
on the spur of the moment, without deliberation; impulsively; suddenly:
We headed for the beach on the spur of the moment.
22.
win one’s spurs, to achieve distinction or success for the first time; prove one’s ability or worth:
Our team hasn’t won its spurs yet.
noun, Papermaking.
1.
a batch of newly made rag-paper sheets.
noun
1.
a pointed device or sharp spiked wheel fixed to the heel of a rider’s boot to enable him to urge his horse on
2.
anything serving to urge or encourage: the increase in salary was a spur to their production
3.
a sharp horny projection from the leg just above the claws in male birds, such as the domestic cock
4.
a pointed process in any of various animals; calcar
5.
a tubular extension at the base of the corolla in flowers such as larkspur
6.
a short or stunted branch of a tree
7.
a ridge projecting laterally from a mountain or mountain range
8.
a wooden prop or a masonry reinforcing pier
9.
another name for groyne
10.
Also called spur track. a railway branch line or siding
11.
a short side road leading off a main road: a motorway spur
12.
a sharp cutting instrument attached to the leg of a gamecock
13.
on the spur of the moment, on impulse
14.
win one’s spurs

(history) to earn knighthood
to prove one’s ability; gain distinction

verb spurs, spurring, spurred
15.
(transitive) to goad or urge with or as if with spurs
16.
(intransitive) to go or ride quickly; press on
17.
(transitive) to injure or strike with a spur
18.
(transitive) to provide with a spur or spurs

spur (spûr)
n.
A spine or projection from a bone.
spur
(spûr)

A small ridge that projects sharply from the side of a larger hill or mountain.

A projection from a bone, as on the heel of the foot.

An early system on the IBM 650.
[Listed in CACM 2(5):16 (May 1959)].
(1994-12-01)