Also 4–7 spurne, 4–5 sporn. [f. SPURN v.1]
† 1. A trip or stumble. Obs.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 4324. Qua folus lang, wit-outen turn, Oft his fote sal find a spurn. Ibid., 4329.
a. 1375. Joseph Arim., 581. He hedde no space spedly him-seluen forto do him no dispit; þe sporn was his owne.
a. 1500[?]. Chester Pl., I. 136. Beware yow of this Chayre, lest that yow have a fowle spurne.
1535. Stewart, Cron. Scot., II. 150. Nocht wittand weill quhome to that tyid to turne, For lidder speid cumis of airlie spurne.
† 2. a. To hold (a) spurn, to make successful resistance. Obs.–1
a. 1300. Cursor M., 19414. Wit spec[h]e þai gaue him mani turn, Bot nan gain him moght hald spurn [Gött. a spurn].
† b. A pace or course (on horseback). Obs.–1
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. Wace (Rolls), 12759. Wawayn … byheld þat he cam so gret a spurne, He had no leyser his hors to turne.
† c. An encounter, fray. Obs. rare.
a. 1500. Chevy Chase, 136, in Child, Ballads, III. 310. At Otterburn begane this spurne, vppone a Monnynday.
3. A stroke with the foot; a kick.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 23780. Qua herd a caitiuer crachun, Þat will noght bide to giue a spurn?
c. 1440. Gesta Rom., lxx. 323 (Harl. MS.). He lifte vp his foote, and gafe him a spurne aȝen þe brest.
1542. Udall, Erasm. Apoph., b iij b. When a certain feloe had … geuen him a spurne on the shynne, as he was gooyng on his waye in the strete.
1579. Lyly, Euphues (Arb.), 145. A young man beeing peruerse in nature,… gaue Socrates a spurne.
1622. Mabbe, trans. Aleman’s Guzman d’Alf., II. 30. Hee should haue … many a spurne and kicke with the foot.
1679. C. Nesse, Antichrist, 46. Is not this like one of the spurns or kicks of the beast?
1708. Swift, Rem. upon Book, Wks. 1841, II. 182. Like the sick old lion in the fable, who … took nothing so much to heart as to find himself at last insulted by the spurn of an ass.
1851. Helps, Comp. Solit., iv. 46. Alnaschar,… who with an imaginary spurn … disposed at once of all his splendid fortunes.
fig. c. 1430. in Reliq. Antiq., I. 1. He gafe my mayden-hed a spurne.
1577. F. de L’isle’s Legendarie, F iij b. By this meanes they gaue so shrewd a spurne at the estate of this realme that it feleth it yet.
1612. Wither, Juvenilia, Prince Hen. Obsequies (1633), 297. ’Tis true, I know, Death with an equall spurn The lofty Turret and low Cottage beats.
b. The act of kicking or spurning.
1641. Milton, Reform., II. Wks. 1851, III. 71. Where under … the trample and spurne of all the other Damned … they shall remaine in that plight for ever.
1650. Baxter, Saints’ R., IV. iii. The spurn of a man’s foot destroys all their labour.
1842. Fraser’s Mag., XXVI. 479. The sweep of the arms and the spurn of the legs must always be made under the water.
1893. F. Thompson, Poems, 49. With flying lightnings round the spurn o’ their feet.
Comb. 1676. Doctrine of Devils, 196. The Magical Seals, &c., whereby men might be preserved Shot-free, and consequently Stick-free, Cane-free, Spurn-free, Kick-free.
4. The act of treating with disdain or contemptuous rejection; an instance of this.
1602. Shaks., Ham., III. i. 73. The insolence of Office, and the Spurnes That patient merit of the vnworthy takes.
1646. Jenkyn, Remora, 9. Do the rowlings of a fathers bowels deserve our spurn?
a. 1680. Charnock, Attrib. God (1834), II. 200. It is a spurn at God’s sovereignty, and a slight of his goodness.
1875. Lowell, in N. Amer. Rev., CXX. 370. There is an exulting spurn of earth in it, as of a soul just loosed from its cage.
