spur

noun22

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
2. •
   (figurative) 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, [...] — 1602
3. •
   Any protruding part connected at one end, for instance a highway that extends from another highway into a city.
4. •
   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
5. •
   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.
6. •
   A wall in a fortification that crosses a part of a rampart and joins to an inner wall.
7. •
   A branch of a vein.
8. •
   A very short branch line of a railway line.
9. •
   A short branch road of a motorway, freeway or major road.
10. •
    A short thin side shoot from a branch, especially one that bears fruit or, in conifers, the shoots that bear the leaves.
11. •
    An appendage or spike pointing rearward, near the foot, for instance that of a rooster.
12. •
    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
13. •
    A brace strengthening a post and some connected part, such as a rafter or crossbeam; a strut.
14. •
    The short wooden buttress of a post.
15. •
    A piece of timber fixed on the bilgeways before launching, having the upper ends bolted to the vessel's side.
16. •
    A curved piece of timber serving as a half to support the deck where a whole beam cannot be placed.
17. •
    A spurious tone, one that interferes with a signal in a circuit and is often masked underneath that signal.
18. •
    Roots, tree roots.

    • […] the strong-bas'd promontory / Have I made shake; and by the spurs pluck'd up / The pine and cedar […] — 1610
19. •
    Ergotized rye or other grain.
20. •
    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.
21. •
    The track of an animal, such as an otter; a spoor.
22. •
    A tern.

verb5

1. •
   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! — 1593
2. •
   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... — 1601
3. •
   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
4. •
   To press forward; to travel in great haste.
5. •
   To put spurs on.

   • to spur boots

noun1

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