Spur sb.¹

Forms: α. 1–2 spora, 2–6 (9 dial.) spore, 4 spor, 5–6 sporre. β. 1 spura, 2–5, north. and Sc. 6–7 spure (5 north. spvyre), 6 spoore. γ. 6–7 spurre (7 spirre), 5– spur (6–7 spurr). [Common Teutonic: OE. spora, spura, = OFris. *spora (WFris. spoar, NFris. spöör), OS. spora (MDu. spore, spoor; Du. spoor, WFlem. spoore, sporre), MLG. spore, spare, OHG. sporo (MHG. spore, spor, G. sporen, now sporn), ON. and Icel. spori (Norw. and Da. spore, Sw. sporre). The stem is possibly the same as that of SPOOR sb.¹]

  I.  1. A device for pricking the side of a horse in order to urge it forward, consisting of a small spike or spiked wheel attached to the rider’s heel.

  α.  c. 725.  Corpus Gloss. (Hessels), C 93. Calcar, spora.

a. 1175.  Cott. Hom., 243. Þu ahst to habben … swrd and spere, Stede and twei sporen.

1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 11280. He smot stede wiþ þe spore.

13[?].  K. Alis., 818 (Laud MS.). At þe yssue of þe doren Tholomeus dude on his sporen.

1390.  Gower, Conf., I. 40. Whan the scharpnesse of the spore The horse side smit so sore, It grieveth ofte.

1422.  trans. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv., 165. He smote the mule wyth the sporis.

1484.  Caxton, Chivalry, 62. The spores ben gyuen to a knyght to sygnefye dylygence and swyftnesse.

1526.  Skelton, Magnyf., 575. Alasse, where is my botes and my spores?

a. 1533.  Ld. Berners, Huon, lxxxxi. 292. He strake the good horse with the sporres.

  β.  c. 1000.  Ælfric, On O. & N. Test. (Grein), 18. Iohannes þa heow þæt hors mid þam spuran.

c. 1205.  Lay., 23772. He … dude on his uoten spuren swiðe gode,… [and] leop on his stede.

c. 1300.  Havelok, 1676. Þe stede, þat he onne sat, Smot Ubbe with spures laste, And forth awey.

1375.  Barbour, Bruce, VIII. 79. With spurys he strak the steid of pris.

14[?].  Nom., in Wr.-Wülcker, 703. Hec calcar, a spure.

c. 1475.  Cath. Angl., 357/1. Spvyre,… calcar.

1547.  Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot., IX. 68. Brydill, spures, gyrthis, stirrep irnis.

1588.  Lanc. & Cheshire Wills (Chetham Soc.), 149. One pair of spures.

c. 1657.  Sir W. Mure, Ho. of Rowallane, Wks. (S.T.S.), II. 243. For yearlie payment of … ane paire of spures.

  γ.  c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 10942. Two spurres full spedely [they] spent on his helis.

c. 1470.  Golagros & Gaw., 25. With spurris spedely thai speid Our fellis.

1523.  Ld. Berners, Froiss., I. cxxxiv. 161. He toke his horse with the spurres, and came on the skirmysshe warde.

1560.  Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 235. He hearde the spurres strike on the stayres whan the murtherer ranne hastely downe.

1604.  E. G[rimstone], D’Acosta’s Hist. Indies, III. ix. 147. Beasts … stay there, so as there is no spurre can make them goe forward.

1661.  J. Childrey, Brit. Baconica, 44. They found nothing, but an old Spur.

1726.  Dict. Rust., s.v., Obedience to the spurs is a necessary, Quality of a good Horse.

1781.  Cowper, Anti-Thelyphth., 191. He spoke indignant, and his spurs applied … to his good palfrey’s side.

1815.  Wellington, in Gurw., Desp. (1838), XII. 552. A pair of Spurs taken from Buonaparte.

1863.  Geo. Eliot, Romola, xvi. The horse wanted no spur under such a rider.

  Prov.  1618.  Hist. Perkin Warbeck, in Select. Harl. Misc. (1793), 62. Little needed a spur, saith our proverb, to a forward horse.

  b.  Used in sing. in generalized sense.

1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 8169. Hor hors … nolde after wille Siwe noþer spore no bridel.

c. 1300.  Havelok, 2569. For he him dredde swiþe sore, So runci spore, and mikle more.

1390.  Gower, Conf., I. 321. This kniht … With spore made his hors to gon.

1580.  Blundevil, Horsemanship, T v. If he be more slowe … in his trotting, or gallopping, harder of spurre than he was woont to be.

1596.  Mascall, Govt. Cattle, 189. If spurre and wande will not profit.

1611.  Shaks., Wint. T., I. ii. 96. You may ride’s With one soft Kisse a thousand Furlongs, ere With Spur we heat an Acre.

a. 1802.  Kinmont Willie, xvii. in Scott, Minstrelsy. He has called him forty Marchmen bauld With spur on heel, and splent on spauld.

1831.  Youatt, Horse, 49. The [race-] horse,… without whip or spur, will generally exert his energies to the utmost to beat his opponent.

1859.  Tennyson, Elaine, 455. They … Set lance in rest, strike spur, suddenly move.

  Prov.  c. 1380.  Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 436. It is to hard to kyke aȝen þe spore. [Cf. PRICK sb. 13.]

1579.  Tomson, Calvin’s Serm. Tim., 636/1. They … will get nothing by it, for they kicke against the spurre.

  c.  Gilt (or † gilded) spurs, as the distinctive mark of a knight. Now Hist.

13[?].  Coer de L., 5346. Syxty thousand ther wer telde, Off gylte spores in the felde.

1377.  Langl., P. Pl., B. XVIII. 14. Þe kynde of a knyȝte þat cometh to be dubbed, To geten hem gylte spores.

1480.  Caxton, Polychronicon, VIII. xxvi. He toke sire Umfrayes salade and his brygantyns…, and also his gylt spores.

a. 1548.  Hall, Chron., Edw. IV., 191. He was disgraded of the high ordre of knighthode … by cuttyng of his gylt sporres.

1604.  Marston & Dekker, Malcontent, I. iii. As your knight courts your city widow with jingling of his gilt spurs.

1641–54.  Mennis & Smith, Mus. Deliciæ (1817), II. 32. Gilded spurres do jingle at his heeles.

1728.  Chambers, Cycl., s.v., Anciently the Difference between the Knight and Esquire was, that the Knight wore gilt Spurs,… and the ’Squire silver’d ones.

1828.  Scott, F. M. Perth, xxxii. Here, strike me this man’s gilt spurs from his heels with thy cleaver.

1879.  Encycl. Brit., IX. 544. The ‘Day of the Spurs’ was a fitting name for a carnage after which four thousand gilt spurs were hung as trophies in Courtrai cathedral.

  attrib.  1641–54.  Mennis & Smith, Mus. Deliciæ (1817), II. 176. Battas believed … That yonder guilt-spur spruce and velvet youth Was some great personage.

  d.  With distinguishing terms, denoting various makes or kinds.

a. 1400.  Octouian, 1447. A peyre sporys of Speyne.

1625–.  [see RIPPON].

1688.  R. Holme, Armoury, III. 304/1. A Scotch Spur…. This is an old way of making Spurs;… their Spurs were only armed with a sharp point like a Cocks Spur. Ibid., 325/1. Some term it a Gag Spur, others a Prick Spur.

1785.  Grose, in Archaeol. (1787), VIII. 111. The rouelle, or wheel spur (so called from the revolution of the spicula about its axis).

1824.  Meyrick, Antient Armour, I. Introd. p. lxv. The [Anglo-Saxon] spur was formed … with a much longer neck, and was called the spear-spur.

1824, 1839.  [see PRICK sb. 21].

a. 1866.  Fairholt, Costume (1885), II. 377. The rowelled spur first appears … on the brass of Sir John de Creke, 1325.

  † e.  Used in some game or sport. Obs.^–1

c. 1440.  Jacob’s Well, 134. Þe v. inche is harlotrie, makyng iapys a-forn folk, in pleying at þe spore, at þe bene, at þe cat, in ledyng berys & apys.

  f.  Battle (also day or † journey) of (the) spurs: (see quots. 1831 and 1837).

  (a)  a. 1548.  Hall, Chron., Hen. VIII., 33 b. The Frenchemen call this battaylle the iourney of Spurres because they ranne awaye so faste on horssebacke.

1643.  Baker, Chron., Hen. VIII., 8. It was called the Battell of Spurres, for that they used more their Spurres in running away, then their Launces in fighting.

1831.  Mackintosh, Hist. Eng., II. iv. 118. [Hen. VIII.] defeated the French army in an engagement [near Guinegate] on the 4th of August, 1513, afterwards called the Battle of the Spurs.

  (b)  1837.  Penny Cycl., VIII. 113/1. The Flemyngs, in 1302,… encountered a French army near to Courtray, and found on the field, after the battle, about 4000 gilt spurs, which caused it to be called the battle of spurs.

1842.  Longf., Belfry of Bruges, xv. I beheld the Flemish Weavers … Marching homeward from the bloody battle of the Spurs of Gold.

1879.  [see 1 c].

  g.  Her. The representation of a spur.

1688.  R. Holme, Armoury, III. 304/1. He beareth Gules, a Scotch Spur, Or. Ibid. He beareth Vert, a Spur, Or; Leathered, Argent.

a. 1773.  [see SPURRED a. 1 c].

1882.  Cussans, Her., 122. Spur: This Charge may either be represented in its modern form, with a revolving rowel, or with a single point.

  h.  transf. One who wears spurs.

1821.  Scott, Kenilw., iii. I can … fling my gold as freely about as any of the jingling spurs and white feathers that are around me.

  2.  a. In various prepositional or elliptical phrases denoting speed, haste, eagerness, etc.

c. 1374.  Chaucer, Troylus, II. 1427. Tristith wele that I Wole be her champioun with spore and yerd.

1592.  Shaks., Rom. & Jul., II. iv. 73. Swits and spurs, Swits and spurs, or Ile crie a match. Ibid. (1601), All’s Well, II. v. 40. You haue made shift to run into’t, bootes and spurres and all.

1604.  Dekker, Honest Wh., Wks. 1873, II. 96. Wee shall ride switch and spurre.

1679.  V. Alsop, Melius Inquir., Pref. As if they rod Post, all upon the switch and spur for a presentation to a warm Parsonage.

1708.  Sewel, II. Spoorslaags ryden,… to ride switch and spur, to gallop with full speed.

1742.  Pope, Dunciad, IV. 197. Each fierce Logician … Came whip and spur, and dash’d thro’ thin and thick.

1782.  Cowper, Mutual Forbearance, 22. What if he did ride whip and spur, ’Twas but a mile.

1900.  Daily Mail, 1 Feb., 4/3. The Government would have turned tail but for the fact that Lord Rosebery, in his famous Epsom speech, rode it ‘with spurs.’

  † b.  At the spur, at spurs, = next. Obs. rare.

c. 1450.  Merlin, xviii. 282. Than will we go down this ryver at the spore.

1535.  State P., Hen. VIII. (1834), II. 232. Wher Thomas Fittz Gerolde … was dreuen to flye at sporres, and lost dyvers of his men.

  c.  On or upon the († spurs or) spur (also † upon spur), at full speed, in or with the utmost haste, in lit. or fig. use.

  (a)  1525.  Ld. Berners, Froiss., II. viii. 18. Whan we be in the feldes, lette vs ryde on the spurres to Gaunte.

1577–87.  Holinshed, Chron., II. 537. He was rescued by certeine horssemen, which … came on the spurs … to the succour of their fellowes.

  (b)  1560.  Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 428. Ryding upon the spurre, [he] setteth upon them quickely.

1623.  Bingham, Xenophon, 23. Lucius … returned and told him, that the enemie fled vpon the Spur.

1655.  Clarke Papers (Camden), III. 30. The French Ambassadour seemes not to be all together uppon the spur to be gone.

1693.  Humours Town, 3. By this time our Horses must be ready, and we lose time till we are on the Spur.

1710.  Shaftesb., Charac. (1737), III. 26. He is not presently upon the Spur, or in his full Career.

1775.  S. J. Pratt, Liberal Opin., xlviii. (1783), II. 31. The servant rode away on the spur, to alarm the family at the mansion-house.

1825.  Scott, Betrothed, Concl. News are come on the spur from the Garde Doloureuse.

1847.  Tennyson, Princess, I. 150. And there, All wild to found an University For maidens, on the spur she fled.

  (c)  1606.  G. W[oodcocke], Hist. Ivstine, XI. 49. Alexander…, following vpon spurre, had intelligence that [etc.].

1643.  Cromwell, in Carlyle, Lett. & Sp. (1861), IV. 252. Haste,—ride on spur. Ibid., 253. Haste, haste, on spur.

  d.  On (or upon) the spur of the moment (or occasion, etc.), without premeditation or deliberation; on a momentary impulse; impromptu, suddenly, instantly.

  (a)  1784.  Jackson’s Oxf. Jrnl., 24 July, 2/4. The Idea of Lord Ferrers, though probably set forward on the Spur of the Moment, looks at first as if it would lead to something worth attending—a Tax on Watches.

1806.  A. Duncan, Nelson’s Funeral, 43. The contrivance of Mr. Wyatt, on the spur of the moment.

1831.  Blakey, Free-will, 152. A speaker who gives us a ready reply upon the spur of the moment.

1891.  ‘J. S. Winter,’ Lumley, x. There’s nothing like acting on the spur of the moment.

  (b)  1809.  Malkin, Gil Blas, II. iii. ¶ 2. He carried me home on the spur of the occasion.

[1836.  Sir H. Taylor, Statesman, xxxi. 237. Though compliments should arise naturally out of the occasion, they should not appear to be prompted by the spur of it.

1882.  Hinsdale, Garfield & Educ., II. 312. Do not trust to what lazy men call the spur of the occasion.]

  (c)  1834.  Ht. Martineau, Moral, II. 58. The utmost extent that ingenuity can devise on the spur of a great occasion.

1837.  Carlyle, Fr. Rev., II. III. vii. The Church … has been consecrated, by supreme decree, on the spur of this time, into a Pantheon.

  3.  In phrases with verbs: a. To win (one’s or † the) spurs, to gain knighthood by some act of valor; hence, to attain distinction, to achieve one’s first honors. Chiefly fig. Also const. against, from, of.

c. 1425.  Lydg., Assembly of Gods, 980. These xiiii knyghtes made Vyce that day; To wynne theyr spores they seyde they wold asay.

1539.  Abp. Parker, Corr. (1853), 13. The one to labour to win sporis of the other, and to allure the people’s minds.

1551.  T. Wilson, Logike (1580), 74 b. Sennacherib that wicked kyng, thought … to winne his spurres against Jerusalem.

1595.  Enq. Tripe-wife, in Grosart, Eliz. Eng. (1881), 171. It sufficeth that yee haue wonne the spurres from them all.

1600.  Holland, Livy, XXX. xxxii. 762. Resolute that day either to winne the spurres or loose the saddle.

1837.  Penny Cycl., IX. 291/2. His father nevertheless took him [the Black Prince] along with him to win his spurs … in July, 1346.

1862.  Thornbury, Turner, I. 390. The painter … executed his task with a patience … worthy of one who had to win his spurs.

  b.  To put or set († the) spurs to, to impel or urge on by spurring; = SPUR v.¹ 1. Also fig.

  (a)  1553.  Brende, Q. Curtius, B b iij. He put spurres to his horse.

1561.  Eden, Arte Nauig., Pref. ¶ iv b. I may … seme to put the spurres to a runnyng horse, as saith the Prouerbe.

1603.  Knolles, Hist. Turks (1621), 313. He … put spurres to his horse, and fiercely charged the front of Scanderbegs armie.

1770.  Langhorne, Plutarch (1851), II. 739/2. At the same time they put spurs to their horses.

1818.  Scott, Br. Lamm., xxi. I must have spurs put to Lady Ashton’s motions.

1857.  J. G. Holland, Bay Path, xix. 221. A motive force, by which the spurs were put to resolution.

1889.  ‘V. Fane,’ Helen Davenant, I. 16. He put spurs to his horse as soon as he got outside upon the high road.

  (b)  1565.  Cooper, Thesaurus, s.v. Incito, Settyng spurres to his horse to gallop amonge his ennemies.

1588.  Kyd, Househ. Phil., Wks. (1901), 239. Seeing the ayre wexe blacke,… I began to set spurs to my Horse.

1600.  J. Pory, trans. Leo’s Africa, II. 70. Setting spurs to his horse-side, he cast himselfe … downe headlong.

1623.  Lisle, Ælfric on O. & N. Test., 36. Iohn set spurs to his horse, and made after him.

1818.  Scott, Br. Lamm., xxii. The Captain proceeded … to set spurs to her resolution.

1889.  Conan Doyle, Micah Clarke, xxx. 313. He set spurs to his horse.

  ellipt.  1598.  Shaks., Merry W., IV. v. 70. They … set spurres, and away; like three Germane-diuels.

1652.  J. Wright, trans. Camus’ Nat. Paradox, vii. 139. Hee set Spurs and hasted after his Companions.

a. 1700.  Evelyn, Diary (Chandos), 187. We set spurrs and endeavour’d to ride away.

1811.  W. R. Spencer, Poems, 19. My spurs are set; Away, away.

1849.  G. P. R. James, Woodman, xviii. Quick, spurs to your horse, and away for Sir William.

  † c.  slang. (See quot.) Obs.

1770.  Gentl. Mag., XL. 560. To express the Condition of an Honest Fellow and no Flincher, under the Effects of good Fellowship, he is said to [have] … Got a spur in his head; this is said by brother jockies of each other.

  4.  A stimulus, incentive or incitement. Also const. of (the particular influence, etc.) and to (a person or persons).

[1526.  Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 240 b. It is as a prycke or a spurre to set the slouthfull body forwarde in the seruyce of god.]

1551.  Wilson, Logike, Ep. A iij. I professe it to be but a spurre, or a whetstone, to sharpe the pens of some other.

a. 1586.  Sidney, Arcadia, III. viii. (1912), 393. With the spurre of Courage, and the bitte of Respect.

1676.  W. Mountagu, in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.), I. 323. It will not be proper … to make him any acknowledgments…, lest it be looked at for a spur, which I assure you his Lordship needs not.

1726.  Shelvocke, Voy. round World, 28. I had no spur that they would be sensible of, but double allowance of brandy.

1771.  Junius Lett., lix. (1788), 319. The spur of the press is wanted to give operation to the bounty.

1821.  Lamb, Elia, I. Grace before Meat. Our appetites, of one or another kind, are excellent spurs to our reason.

1842.  S. Lover, Handy Andy, iii. How Andy runs! Fear’s a fine spur.

1871.  Blackie, Morals, I. 129. Human beings,… acting in masses, under the spur of great political or religious excitement.

  b.  Const. to or † towards (some quality, course of action, etc.). Also with inf.

1548.  Udall, Erasm. Par., Pref. 12. An encouragyng and spurre towardes ferther industrie.

a. 1593.  H. Smith, Serm. (1637), 585. Praise and honour are spurres to virtue.

1611.  Shaks., Wint. T., IV. ii. 10. Which is another spurre to my departure.

1663.  Patrick, Parab. Pilgrim, x. (1687), 54. The thoughts of this misery would be a sufficient spur to you to quicken the execution of it.

1716.  Bentley, Serm., xi. 382. Implanted in our Nature as a spur to mutual Beneficence.

1779.  J. Moore, View of France (1789), I. xxxi. 273. Emulation, the chief spur to diligence.

1800.  Wellington, in Gurw., Desp. (1837), I. 181. This will give a spur to the negotiation at Hydrabad.

1855.  Bain, Senses & Int., II. iv. § 31. The remembrance … is one source of the spur to preserve the stability of one’s footing.

1888.  Bryce, Amer. Commw., II. xlvi. 195. This advantage … is a constant spur to the efforts of national politicians.

  c.  Similarly with of (= to).

  Cf. ‘Þe spore of loue’ as the title of a poem in the Vernon MS. (Minor P., I. 269).

1591.  Spenser, Tears of Muses, 454. Due praise, that is the spur of dooing well.

1639.  Fuller, Holy War, V. xiii. 252. Had the emulation betwixt those equall Princes onely been such as is the spurre of vertue.

1752.  Hume, Ess. & Treat. (1777), I. 96. Avarice, the spur of industry.

1824.  Lamb, Elia, II. Capt. Jackson. With many more such hospitable sayings, the spurs of appetite.

  II.  5. Zool. A sharp, hard process or projection on the tarsus of the domestic cock and certain other fowls and birds; a back-claw.

1548.  Elyot, Calcaria, the spurres of a cocke or an henne.

1577.  B. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., IV. (1586), 158. Their legges strong, wel armed with sharp and deadly spurres.

1601.  Holland, Pliny, I. 276. As if they knew, that naturally they had spurs, as weapons, giuen them about their heeles, to try the quarrell.

1624.  Capt. Smith, Virginia, II. 31. Arrowes … headed with … the spurres of a Turkey, or the bill of some bird.

1661.  Lovell, Hist. Anim. & Min., Isagoge b 3 b. Amongst Birds,… some have spurs, but not the crooked clawed.

1725.  Fam. Dict., s.v. Hen, Those Hens that have Spurs break their Eggs, and generally will not hatch them.

1834.  M‘Murtrie, trans. Cuvier, 143. Their wings are short…. Their thumb, reduced to a spur, cannot reach the ground.

1899.  W. T. Greene, Cage-Birds, 38. The Woodlark … differs from it in having a shorter tail and ‘spur’—that is, the nail of the hind toe.

  fig.  1571.  R. Edwards, Damon & Pithias (1906), 54. Though we are cockerels now, we shall have spurs one day.

1770.  Langhorne, Plutarch (1851), II. 858/1. If you design doing anything … you must do it quickly, before the spurs of this cockerel be grown.

  b.  Zool., Anat. and Path. A sharp-pointed or spur-like process, formation or growth on some part of the body.

1681.  Grew, Musæum, I. V. iii. 116. On each side his nether [jaw], two great Spikes or Spurs, hard and very sharp.

1722–7.  Boyer, Dict. Royal, I. Les ergots … d’un Chien, a … Dog’s Spurs.

1760.  [see spur-fish in 14 b].

1785.  Latham, Gen. Synop. Birds, III. I. 247. On the bend of the wing [are] two or three spurs half an inch in length.

1828.  Stark, Elem. Nat. Hist., II. 362. Hesperides. Posterior legs with two pairs of spurs.

1850.  R. G. Cumming, Hunter’s Life S. Afr. (1902), I. 262. One of his [a buffalo’s] hind legs being shot off above the spurs.

1899.  Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VIII. 686. Those [cicatrices] occurring after syphilis are said to be softer, less liable to encroach on the neighbouring skin or to produce spurs.

  6.  a. A sharp-pointed projection from the prow of a war-vessel.

1604.  E. Grimstone, Hist. Siege Ostend, 171. One of them tooke him right vpon the sterne with his spurre or pointe.

1877.  W. H. White, Man. Naval Archit. (1882), 320. Gaining such a depth below water as will enable the spur to pierce an enemy below the armour.

1889.  Welch, Text Bk. Naval Archit., vii. 98. Below water the stem is formed into a spur or ram, with a view to … piercing the thin bottom plating of an enemy’s ship.

  b.  A metal needle or gaff for fastening to the leg of a gamecock for fighting purposes.

1688.  R. Holme, Armoury, II. 252/2. Gablocks are Spurs made of Iron, or Brass, or Silver, and are fixed on the Legs of such Cocks as want their natural Spurs; some call them Gaffs.

1706.  Phillips (ed. Kersey), Gaff, an artificial Spur for a Cock.

1801.  Strutt, Sports & Past., III. vii. 250. We frequently meet with paintings, representing cocks fighting; but I do not recollect to have seen in any of them the least indication of artificial spurs.

1841.  Marryat, Poacher, iii. Having put on the animal his steel spurs, he … would … throw down his gallant bird.

  c.  Whaling. One of a number of metal spikes in a boot-sole to prevent slipping.

1820.  Scoresby, Acc. Arctic Regions, II. 298. The harpooners, having their feet armed with ‘spurs,’… to prevent them from slipping, descend upon the fish.

  d.  Any sharp or short projection, point or spike suggestive of a spur. Freq. specific in technical use.

1872.  J. Richards, Wood-working Machines, 193. The power is needed mainly to cross-cut the fibre with the spores. Ibid. The spores [1873 spurs] require frequent sharping.

1875.  Knight, Dict. Mech., 2293/1. Spur, a prong on the arm of some forms of anchor, to assist in turning the lower arm from the shank.

1881.  Young, Ev. Man his own Mechanic, § 399. 175. The two spurs, one on each section of the plane.

1888.  Jacobi, Printers’ Vocab., 130. Spur, the short pin at the end of the point which pricks the hole in the sheet for registering purposes.

1889.  Welch, Text Bk. Naval Archit., xiii. 138. The lower pintle … being received into a spur projecting from the lower part of the sternpost.

  7.  a. A short or stunted branch or shoot, esp. one likely to produce fruit.

1700.  Compl. Gardiner, in Dict. Rust. (1726), s.v. Pruning, Tho’ the Spurs are common and proper to be preserved, yet the Branches growing from them, will never be good for any thing.

1764.  Museum Rust., IV. 15. Those little spurs which are only an inch or two long.

1796.  C. Marshall, Gardening, xii. (1813), 162. The mode of bearing in pear trees is on short spurs, which … form themselves all along the branches.

1842.  Loudon, Suburban Hort., 339. The great object in producing spurs is to obtain blossom-buds.

1858.  Glenny, Everyday-Bk. Gardening, 23/1. If they were to cut every inch of new wood back to a short spur, there would be fruit.

  transf.  1912.  F. Bond, Cathedrals, 287. The western bases have a ‘spur’ of leafage, a sign of late date.

  b.  Bot. A tubular expansion, resembling a cock’s spur in form, of some more or less foliaceous part of a flower; a calcar.

1731.  Miller, Gard. Dict., s.v. Delphinium, Many dissimilar Petals…, the uppermost of which is contracted, and ends in a Tail or Spur.

1796.  Withering, Brit. Pl. (ed. 3), II. 8. Bloss[om] gaping, ending in a spur.

1830.  Lindley, Nat. Syst. Bot., 141. Sepals … unequal; the lowermost elongated into a spur.

1855.  Miss Pratt, Flower. Pl., IV. 214. Spur conical, shorter than the limb of the corolla.

1874.  Lubbock, Wild Flowers, iii. 53. The honey is in some cases … situated at the end of a long spur.

  c.  A disease in rye and certain other cereals, in which the blighted ear resembles a cock’s spur in form; = ERGOT 1.

1763.  Mills, Pract. Husb., II. 405. The grains which have the spur are thicker and longer than the sound ones.

1828.  A. Neale (title), Researches respecting the Natural History … of the Spur, or Ergot of Rye.

1837.  P. Keith, Bot. Lex., 153. The most mysterious of all the maladies attacking the cereal grasses is that of the Ergot or Spur.

  III.  8. A short strut or stay set diagonally to support an upright timber; a shore, prop, or sustaining pillar; a sloping buttress.

1529.  Sel. Cases Star Chamber (Selden), II. 41. [They] cut vpp the yates, postes, and spores of the yates.

1594.  Plat, Jewell-ho., III. 26. Two strong pillers … well propped with spurres.

1652.  J. Endecott, in Manip. Progr. Gosp. among Indians N. Eng., 34. They have also built a foot bridge … with Groundsells and Spurres to vphold it.

1687.  A. Lovell, trans. Thevenot’s Trav., II. 124. A thick Wall, almost two Fathom broad, supported by two spurs of the same thickness.

1712.  J. James, trans. Le Blond’s Gardening, 211. The … Wall should be supported … with Buttresses, or Spurs of Masonry.

1834.  Southey, Doctor (1862), 376. Murlooz is the name which they give to such spurs or stay-pillars.

1844.  Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl., VII. 19/2. The spur [= prop] is then disengaged, and the wagon resumes its level position ready to be removed.

1851.  Turner, Dom. Archit., II. iii. 91. The term spur is now applied to the carved timber work of the doorways of ancient houses supporting projecting upper stories.

1893.  Cozens-Hardy, Broad Norf., 25. He … supports his wall with a spore not a shore.

  b.  Naut. (See quots.)

1769.  Falconer, Dict. Marine (1780), s.v. Deck, The spurs of the beams; being curved pieces of timber serving as half-beams to support the decks, where a whole beam cannot be placed on account of the hatch-ways.

1841.  R. H. Dana, Seaman’s Man., 125. Spurs, pieces of timber fixed on the bilge-ways, their upper ends being bolted to the vessel’s sides above the water.

1867.  Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., 647. Spurs of the Bitts, the same as standards.

  c.  techn. (See quots.)

1833.  Loudon, Encycl. Archit., § 1075. The spurs (lower stones of the raking part of the gable, called in England the summer stones).

1850.  White, Wrekin, p. xxvii. Stilts and spurs—bits of fireclay by means of which earthenware articles are kept separate during firing.

1875.  Knight, Dict. Mech., s.v. Pottery. The stilts or spurs are generally of triangular form, and have sharp projecting points.

  9.  One of the principal roots of a tree. Cf. SPURN sb.² 2.

1610.  Shaks., Temp., V. i. 47. The strong bass’d promontorie Haue I made shake, and by the spurs pluckt vp The Pyne, and Cedar.

1677.  Plot, Oxfordshire, 159. The Tree without being 25 foot round above the spurs.

1740.  Somerville, Hobbinol, II. 89. If chance The cruel Woodman spy the friendly Spur, His only Hold.

1791.  Cowper, Yardley Oak, 117. Yet is thy root sincere,… A quarry of stout spurs, and knotted fangs, Which … clasp The stubborn soil.

1800–.  in dial. glossaries (North Cy., Nhp., Chesh., Warw.).

  fig.  1611.  Shaks., Cymb., IV. ii. 58. I do note, That greefe and patience rooted in them both, Mingle their spurres together.

  10.  † a. Fortif. An angular outwork or projection from the general face of a curtain or wall, to assist in the defence of this. Obs.

1575.  Churchyard, Chippes (1817), 153. They did lose the Sparre, a place ful strong Which sore anoid the towne.

1598.  Barret, Theor. Warres, 125. The parts of a Bulwarke are … the front or Curtine; the Counter front or Spurres.

1604.  E. G[rimstone], D’Acosta’s Hist. Indies, V. xiii. 364. Fortefied with great and large spurres or platformes.

1669.  Staynred, Fortification, 12. In the middle of the Curtain you may make a Spur, or Point of a Bastion.

1687.  J. Richards, Jrnl. Siege of Buda, 12. We observ’d the Enemy at work on the East-Port, to which place they had advanc’d a Spurr.

1702.  Milit. Dict. (1704), Spurs, are Walls that cross a part of the Rampart, and joyn to the Town Wall.

  † b.  An angular end of the pier of a bridge. Obs.

1736.  Hawksmoor, London Bridge, 26. That the Becks or Spurs ought to be made in right Angles.

1742.  Leoni, Palladio’s Archit., I. 92. The angle of the spurs, that cut the water, is a right angle.

  c.  An artificial projection from a river-bank serving to deflect the current.

1818.  Garstin, trans. Frisi’s Treat. Rivers, III. iii. 130. I have examined different sorts of spurs, and have found but few of them that were not shaken and damaged by the current.

1873.  Medley, Autumn Tour U.S. & Canada, ix. 149. I saw a large Spur which had been built to divert the stream under the bridge.

  11.  A range, ridge, mountain, hill, or part of this, projecting for some distance from the main system or mass; an offshoot or offset.

  Freq. since 1850.

1652.  Heylyn, Cosmogr., I. 37. The Alpes, and the Apennine, of which the residue in a manner are but spurs and branches.

1791.  W. Bartram, Observ. Trav. Pennsylv., etc. 338. The upper end of this spacious green plain is divided by a promontory or spur of the ridges before me, which projects into it.

1796.  Morse, Amer. Geog., I. 183. From these several ridges proceed innumerable nameless branches or spurs.

1837.  W. Irving, Capt. Bonneville, I. 96. A low and very rocky ridge, one of the most southern spurs of the Wind river mountains.

1863.  Kinglake, Crimea (1877), III. i. 198. A spur or rising ground at the base of the hills.

1874.  H. R. Reynolds, John Bapt., I. v. 48. The glittering palaces and flourishing cities in the Spurs of Lebanon.

  b.  An outshoot or projecting piece of ground, land, etc.

1851.  Mayne Reid, Scalp Hunters, xxxii. 244. A spur of willows running out from the timber indicated the presence of water.

1852.  Grote, Greece, II. lxx. (1862), VI. 264. A spur of high and precipitous ground.

  c.  A branch of a lode, railway, etc.

1833.  Darwin, Jrnl., 29 Jan., in Voy. Beagle. One side of the creek was formed by a spur of mica-slate.

1878.  F. S. Williams, Midl. Railw., 588. As we leave Newark we see the spur of line that runs down to the Great Northern Railway.

1881.  Raymond, Mining Gloss., Spur, a branch leaving a vein, but not returning to it.

  IV.  12. attrib. a. In sense 1, as spur-buckle, -haste, -mark, etc.

1688.  R. Holme, Armoury, III. 304/2. The Second is termed a *Spur Buckle.

a. 1649.  Drumm. of Hawth., Hist. Jas. II., Wks. (1711), 23. These with *spur-haste advanced the celebration of it.

1875.  Whyte-Melville, Riding Recoll., iv. You may look in vain for a *spur-mark on their horses sides.

1688.  C. Trenchfield, Cap of Grey Hairs, 52. ’Tis no wise part of a man, succumbere difficultatibus,… but … like true *Spur-Nags,… strain hardest against the Hill.

1688.  R. Holme, Armoury, III. 304/2. A Buckle, with a *Spur Neck and Rowel fixed thereunto.

1842.  ‘Nimrod,’ Horse & Hound, 331. The back-ribs … should also be deep, as in a strong-bodied horse, of which we say, when so formed, that he has a good *‘spur place.’

1688.  Holme, Armoury, III. 325/1. A *Spur shank, with a Nail or sharp point.

1862.  Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit., II. No. 6151, Spurs and *spur sockets.

1814.  Scott, Lord of Isles, VI. xxxiii. The *spur stroke fail’d to rouse the horse.

  b.  In senses 6 d, 8–11, as spur-brace, -buttress, -cog, -dike, -fork, -piece, etc.

1776.  G. Semple, Building in Water, 50. On those set-off’s stretch your Plates, and on them rest your *Spur-braces as in the Draft.

1859.  Turner, Dom. Archit., III. II. vii. 373. They are furnished with a variety, adapted to the shape, of the *spur-buttress.

1815.  J. Smith, Panorama Sci. & Art, II. 230. A horizontal wheel … with *spur-cogs.

1892.  Trans. Amer. Soc. Civ. Eng., XXVI. 697. Where the velocity of the current is dangerous, we have sometimes used *spur-dikes.

1747.  Hooson, Miner’s Dict., *Spur-fork, a small sort of Fork, of Use only to keep some other Timber in its Place,… and sometimes used to hold Doorsteds in Drifts or at Sump-heads asunder.

1853.  Western Times, 16 July, 6/4. They would see that the Tavistock line was what they called a *spur line.

1833.  Loudon, Encycl. Archit., § 889. Into grooves chiseled out of the *spur pieces … spiked to the sill and posts.

1825.  J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 73. The rollers … may … be formed into *spur pinions to fit the teeth. Ibid., 159. A *spur-rail, for strengthening the frame-work of the mill.

1871.  Kingsley, At Last, xi. Around its great *spur-roots lay what had been its trunk and head.

1846.  A. Young, Naut. Dict., 281. *Spur-shores,… a name for shores placed in a horizontal position, or set up diagonally.

1889.  Daily News, 9 Oct., 6. The cost of the main thoroughfare…; the cost of the *spur street.

1871.  Routledge’s Ev. Boy’s Ann., Sept., 535. Spaces between the links, into which the *spur-teeth fit.

1884.  Boston (Mass.) Jrnl., 13 Sept. A *spur track from the Eastern Railroad freight yard.

1692.  Lond. Gaz., No. 2774/3. They attack’d a kind of *Spur-work with Pallisadoes.

  13.  Comb., with ppl. adjs. and vbl. sbs., as spur-finned, -heeled, -shaped, -tailed; spur-clad, -driven; spur-bearing, -jingling, -making, etc.

1842.  Loudon, Suburban Hort., 614. Shortening such wood on *spur-bearing trees.

1871.  Darwin, Desc. Man, II. xv. (1890), 450. The female progenitors of the existing spur-bearing species.

1847.  Webster, *Spur-clad, wearing spurs.

1837.  Carlyle, Fr. Rev., II. V. iii. The tired nag, *spur-driven, does take the River Sorgue.

1804.  Shaw, Gen. Zool., V. I. 110. *Spur-finned Pike, Esox Chirocentrus.… Native of the Indian seas. Ibid. (1803), IV. II. 563. *Spur-gilled Holocentrus, Holocentrus Calcarifer.… Native of Japan.

1829.  H. Hawthorn, Visit Babylon, 111. A tall … *spur-heeled ‘dead-weight’ man.

1894.  Du Maurier, Trilby, iii. 42. The brutal sword-clanking, *spur-jingling aristocrats.

a. 1613.  Overbury, A Wife, etc. (1638), 173. The trade of *spurre-making had decay’d long since.

1837.  P. Keith, Bot. Lex., 271. A *spur-shaped process issuing immediately from the corolla.

1894–5.  Lydekker, Roy. Nat. Hist., III. 345. *Spur-tailed Wallabies … having the extreme tip of the tail furnished with a horny spur or nail. Ibid. (1896), V. 286. The *spur-toed frogs (Xenopus).

  14.  Special Combs.: spur-bow, the solid spur-like prolongation of the lower part of the bow in certain warships; spur box, a special form of horseman’s boot-heel, to which the rims of the spur are affixed; spur centre, a lathe-centre provided with spurs; † spur-fire Pyrotech. (see quots.); spur gear, gearing Mech., gearing consisting of spur-wheels; † spur money, a fine imposed by the choristers of certain privileged chapels on anyone entering with spurs on; = spur silver; spur-nut Mech., a small spur-wheel; spur pruning, = SPURRING vbl. sb.¹ 2; spur-road, -shell (see quots.); † spur silver Sc., = spur money; spur-stone, a stone fixed in the ground to support a post or to keep vehicles away from the footway, etc.; † spur trochus, a species of shell (cf. spur-shell); † spur-vein, a blood-vein in a horse’s side where the spur usually strikes; spur-way dial. (see quot.); spur-whang Sc. and dial., = SPUR-LEATHER 1.

1877.  W. H. White, Man. Naval Archit., 232. Under-water projections, like the *spur-bows of ironclad rams, may also produce some limitation of pitching and ’scending.

1862.  Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit., II. No. 5007, The old *Spur Box, in which the boot heels are unsightly and the spur inconveniently near the ground.

1881.  Young, Ev. Man his own Mechanic, § 592. 274. The following pieces are supplied with the lathe:… two plain centres, one *spur-centre for wood.

1765.  R. Jones, Fireworks, ii. 27. When any of these *spur-fires are fired singly, they are called artificial flower pots. Ibid., 29. Called the spur-fire,… because the sparks it yields have a great resemblance to the rowel of a spur.

1823.  Buchanan, Millwork, 28. By *spur geers is understood wheels acting together, and in the same plane, with their axes parallel.

1867–72.  Burgh, Mod. Marine Engin., 294. Spur gear motion for working slide valves.

1844.  Stephens, Bk. Farm, III. 794. The motion of the main rollers … is communicated to the seed-distributor by means of *spur-geering.

1566.  in N. & Q., 1st Ser. I. 494/1. Every quorister sholde bringe with him to Churche a Testament … rather than spend their tyme in talk and hunting after *spur money.

1864.  C. Knight, Passages Work. Life, I. 77. Thus have I seen a stranger civilian stalk into the choir of St. George’s Chapel. The spur was instantly detected; and when the bewildered man was surrounded by a bevy of white surplices as he loitered in the nave, there was no help for him but to pay the spur-money.

1803.  Imison’s Sci. & Art, I. 94. In common *spur-nuts, divide the pitch-line … into twice as many equal parts as you intend teeth.

1825.  J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 131. The four spur-nuts … at the end of the spindle … roll round the spur-wheel.

1842.  Loudon, Suburban Hort., 541. *Spur Pruning, sixth year.

1883.  Gresley, Gloss. Coal-mining, 233. *Spur road, a branch way leading from a main level.

1891.  Hartland Gloss., 73. Spur road, a bridle path. Now obsolete in this sense, although the word remains in the name of a bye-road.

1713.  Petiver, Aquat. Anim. Amboinæ, Tab. xi. Calcar minor,… Small *Spur-shell. Cassis verrucosa,… Great Spur-shell.

1752.  Hill, Hist. Anim., 129. The Spur-shell, with short spines. The gold-yellow Spur-shell, with a silvery white umbo.

1883.  Cassell’s Nat. Hist., V. 214. Genus Imperator. The shell is like a Trochus;… seen from above, it resembles the rowel of a spur, hence the name Spur-shell.

1500.  Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot., II. 97. Item, to the barnis in the Queir of Strivelin, of *spur silver, be the Kingis command, vs. Ibid. (1545), VIII. 411. Item, to the barnis of the quere in spur sylver, vs.

1848.  Gentl. Mag., I. 248. An obelisk,… part of it … having been above ground as a *spur-stone.

1880.  Daily News, 27 July, 3/3. Accidents to the vehicles … owing to the ‘spur stones’ that are fixed to … the refuges … at dangerous crossings.

1882.  Jefferies, Bevis, I. x. 173. It [the flint] struck a small sarsen or boulder by the wood-pile, put there as a spur-stone to force the careless carters to drive straight.

1753.  Chambers’ Cycl., Suppl., s.v. Cochlea, 11. The *spur trochus, with spines disposed in a regular circle. 12. The less aculeated spur trochus.

1607.  Topsell, Four-f. Beasts, 351. Let him blood in his *spur vains, and his breast vaines.

1735.  Burdon, Pocket Farrier, 38. Take … Blood from the Spur Vein on each Side.

1691.  Ray, S. & E. Co. Words (ed. 2), 114. A *Spurre-way, a Horse-way through a Man’s Ground, which one may ride in by right of Custom.

1787–.  in dial. glossaries (Norfolk, Essex, E. Anglia).

1684.  in Cloud of Witnesses (1871), 393. I had not the worth of a *spur whang of any man’s.

1820.  Scott, Monast., xxxvi. There are strapping lads enough would have rid us of him for the lucre of his spur-whang.

  b.  In the specific names of birds, fishes, or flowers, as spur dog, -fish, -fowl, etc. (see quots.).

1862.  Couch, Brit. Fishes, I. 49. *Spur Dog. Bone Dog…. Pre-eminently this fish is called The Dogfish.

1760.  G. Edwards, Glean. Nat. Hist., II. 153. The larger Fish I call the *Spur-fish, from the two odd pectinated sharp-pointed spurs on its upper and under sides.

1804.  Shaw, Gen. Zool., V. I. 194. Rondeletian Carp, Cyprinus Rondeletii.… Spur-Fish.

1845.  Penny Cycl., Suppl. I. 35/1. Guinea-fowls, *spur-fowls, quails, and bustards are very numerous [in Adal].

1865.  Intellect. Obs., No. 39. 224. Galloperdix Lunulosa,… generally called the Spur-fowl.

1895.  Lydekker, Roy. Nat. Hist., IV. 416. The Indian spur-fowl are more pheasant-like.

1866.  Treas. Bot., 550/1. Sea *spur grass, Glyceria distans.

1803.  Shaw, Gen. Zool., IV. II. 595. *Spur Mackrel. Scomber Calcar.… Native of the African seas.

1866.  Treas. Bot., 219. The shrubby Capsicum, or *Spur Pepper (Capsicum frutescens), is a native of the East Indies.

1910.  Encycl. Brit. (ed. 11), XII. 203/2. Birds [of the Gold Coast] … include … swallows, vultures and the *spur plover (the last-named rare).

1864.  Grisebach, Flora Brit. W. Ind., 787/2. *Spur-tree, Petitia domingensis.

1855.  Miss Pratt, Flowering Pl., III. 161. *Spur Valerian. Corolla 5-cleft, spurred at the base.

1863.  Hogg & Johnson, Wild Fl. Gt. Brit., II. Pl. 140. Centranthus Ruber, Red Spur-Valerian. Syn. Red Valerian.

1749.  W. Ellis, Shepherd’s Guide, 144. At Sidbury, Devonshire, ‘they have a weed called *Spurwood or Spearwort, that they say runs up like a pike.’

1640.  Franking *spurwort [see SPURREY 1 b].

1688.  R. Holme, Armoury, II. 98/2. Francking Spurry, or Spurwort, [has] … small narrow leaves.

1796.  Withering, Brit. Pl. (ed. 3), II. 185. Sherardia arvensis.… Little Field Madder. Little Spur-wort.