[f. SPURT sb.1 2. Cf. SPIRT v.3]
1. intr. To make a spurt; to put on increased speed, to make greater exertions, for a short time.
1664. H. More, Myst. Iniq., 549. To spurt out and run on in a career without attending the direction of their Superiours.
[1793. Burns, Lett. to Ainslie, 26 April. I have written many a letter;… but then—they were original matter—spurt-away! zig, here; zag, there.]
1861. Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxf., xxvii. The crowd on both sides cheered, as the … boat spurted from the Cherwell, and took the place of honour.
1897. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., II. 841. It [i.e., alcohol] may enable a man ‘to spurt’ but not ‘to stay.’
2. trans. To cause to spurt; to overtake by means of a spurt. rare.
1888. P. Furnivall, Phys. Training, 7. If … he decides to wait on the goer all through, and try to spurt him at the end, he should practise short, sharp bursts of speed,… always finishing up with a sharp spurt.
