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spur

noun · verb

Simple meaning

A rigid implement, often roughly y-shaped, that is fixed to one's heel for the purpose of prodding a horse.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

spur
US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈspɝ

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

  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.

  2. Any protruding part connected at one end, for instance a highway that extends from another highway into a city.

  3. An appendage or spike pointing rearward, near the foot, for instance that of a rooster.

  4. 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.

  5. A wall in a fortification that crosses a part of a rampart and joins to an inner wall.

  6. Roots, tree roots.

verb

  1. transitive

    To prod (especially a horse) on the side or flank, with the intent to urge motion or haste, to gig.

  2. transitive

    To urge or encourage to action, or to a more vigorous pursuit of an object

  3. intransitive

    To press forward; to travel in great haste.

  4. Goad with spurs

  5. Equip with spurs

  6. transitive

    To put spurs on.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced
Frequency
Moderately Common
Typical Use
Neutral / general English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: 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.

Used this way, spur is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
Matter-of-fact
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use spur

  • “The Academy was formed to spur research.”verb
  • “Cowboys know not to squat with their spurs on.”noun

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

spur gearspur lineshort spurrailroad spur

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • spurred gentiannounCompound term

    Any of various plants of the genus Halenia having flowers with spurred lobes.

  • spur gearnounCompound term

    Gear wheels that mesh in the same plane.

  • spur blightnounCompound term

    A disease of raspberries.

  • spur tracknounCompound term

    A railway line connected to a trunk line.

  • spur wheelnounCompound term

    Gear wheels that mesh in the same plane.

  • long-spurredadjectiveCompound term

    Of flowers having a long extension at the base of the corolla.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.