From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishspurspur1 /spɜː $ spɜːr/ noun [countable] 1 → on the spur of the moment2 CAUSEa fact or event that makes you try harder to do somethingspur to It provided the spur to further research. The crowd’s reaction only acted as a spur.3 DSHa sharp pointed object on the heel of a rider’s boot which is used to encourage a horse to go faster4 → earn/win your spurs5 SGa piece of high ground which sticks out from the side of a hill or mountain6 TTTTTRa railway track or road that goes away from a main line or road
Examples from the Corpus
spur• The desire to make a profit has always been a spur to expanded trade.• A glint of metal behind a spur of rock.• a small bone spur in the right shoulder• Each type can have as many spurs as there are sockets on the original circuit.• The book will help you tell one bird from another and that will be the spur to further enquiry.• This list wasn't compiled on the spur of the moment.• The spur for development in tests usually came from a pressing practical need.• Alejandro and his son all stop horses with five-inch curbs and send them on with spurs about the same length.spurspur2 verb (spurred, spurring) 1 [transitive] (also spur somebody on)HELP to encourage someone or make them want to do something The band were spurred on by the success of their last two singles.spur somebody (on) to do something His misfortunes spurred him to write.spur somebody (on) to something the coach who spurred him on to Olympic success It was an article in the local newspaper which finally spurred him into action.2 [transitive]FAST/QUICK to make an improvement or change happen faster SYN encourage Lower taxes would spur investment and help economic growth.3 [intransitive, transitive]DSH to encourage a horse to go faster, especially by pushing it with special points on the heels of your boots→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
spur• The growth of tourism has spurred equivalent developments in the hotel and leisure-related sectors.• Falling out with Anne finally spurred me into activity.• Today's new generation of black directors has been spurred on by two particular success stories.• The rapes that spurred the creation of the task force began Aug. 21.• And other natural resources, like minerals and timber, spurred the growth of technologies needed to extract them.• He spurred the horse into a canter.spur somebody (on) to do something• His Genius on the field spurred Blackpool to a famous win against Bolton in the 1953 cup final.• From the junction at Machynlleth a southern spur runs to Aberystwyth.• Hepatitis B woke up the research community and spurred it to action.• He also wants to spur engineers to build better hardware and encourage greater funding for its infrastructure.• It spurred me to buy a ticket to Calcutta.• It's something she would naturally do but it was not the job alone that spurred the gentleman to buy her flowers.• And that will spur more customers to buy phones.• The run used to be three miles but I added a quarter mile spur in order to use the time to best advantage.Origin spur1 Old English spura 