n. A pointed instrument worn on the heel by a horseman to goad the horse.n. Anything which goads, impels, or urges to action; incitement; instigation; incentive; stimulus: used in this sense in the phrase on or upon the spur of the moment—that is, on a momentary impulse; suddenly; hastily; impromptu.n. Some projecting thing more or less closely resembling a horseman's spur in form or position.n. plural Short small twigs projecting a few inches from the trunk.n. A snag; a spine; specifically, in herpetology:n. An anal spur.n. A calcar of some frogs.n. In entomology, a spine or stiff bristle on the leg.n. In ornithology: A horny modification of the integument of a bird's foot, forming an outgrowth of the nature of a claw, usually sharp-pointed and supported on a bony core, and used as a weapon of offense and defense; a calcar. Such a spur differs from a clan mainly in not ending a digit, but being an offset from the side of the metatarsus; it is also characteristic; of though not confined to the male, and is therefore a secondary sexual character. It is familiar as occurring on the shank of the domestic cock and other gallinaceous birds, and is sometimes double or treble, as in Pavo bicalcaratus and in the genera Galloperdix, Ithaginis, and Polyplectron. See cuts under calcarate, Galloperdix, Ithaginis, pea-fowl, Polyplectron, Rasores, and tarsometatarsus. A similar horny outgrowth on the pinion-bone of the wing in various birds, resembling a claw, but differing in being a lateral offset not terminating a digit. It occurs in certain geese, plovers, pigeons, and jacanas, and is double in the screamer. See cuts under jacana, Palamedea, and spur-winged.n. In sporting, a gaff, or sharp piercing or cutting instrument fastened upon the natural spur of a game-cock In the pit.n. In mammalogy, the calcarof some bats.n. In physical geography, a ridge or line of elevation subordinate to the main body or crest of a mountainrange; one of the lower divisions of a mountain-mass, when this, as is frequently the case, is divided by valleys or gorges. See mountain-chain.n. A climbing-iron used in mounting telegraph-poles and the like.n. (J) In carpentry, a brace connecting or strengthening a post and some other part, as a rafter or cross-beam.n. In architecture, any offset from a wall, etc., as a buttress; specifically, the claw or griffe projecting from the toru sat each of the angles of the base of early Pointed medieval columns.n. In botany, a calcar; a slender hollow projection from some part of a flower, as from the calyx of columbine and larkspur and the corolla of violets. It is usually nectariferous, being the nectary (nectarium) of Linnæus. The term is also rarely applied to a solid spur-like process. See also cuts under nectary, columbine, and Delphinium.n. In fortification, a wall that crosses a part of the rampart and joins it to an anterior work; also, a tower or blockhouse placed in the outworks before the portn. In ship-building;n. A shore or piece of timber extending from the bilgeways, and fayed and bolted to the bottom of the ship on the stocks.n. A curved piece of timber serving as a half beam to support the deck where a whole beam cannot be placed.n. A heavy timber extended from a pier or wharf against the side of a ship to prevent the ship from striking against the pier.n. In hydraul, engin., awing-dam, or projection built out from a river-bank to deflect the current.n. On a casting, a fin, or projection of waste metal.n. A small piece of refractory clay ware with one or more projecting points, used in a kiln to support or separate articles in a saggar during firing, and to prevent the pieces from adhering to the saggar and to each other. Also called stilt.n. In an auger, a projecting point on the edge, which makes the circular cut, from which the chip is removed by the lip. See cut under auger.n. The prong on the arms of some forms of patent anchors, for the purpose of catching on the bottom and making the fluke bite or take hold more quickly. See cut under anchor.n. In printing, a register-point.n. In anatomy, the angle at which the arteries leave a cavity or trunk.n. In mining, a branch of a vein; a feeder or dropper.To prick or rasp with the point or rowel of a spur.Figuratively, to urge or incite.To hasten.To fasten spurs to, as a horseman's boot, or a solleret.To furnish with spurs, as a rider: as, booted and spurred; to furnish with a spur or gaff, as a game-cock.To prop; support.To prick one's horse with the spur; ride in haste.Figuratively, to press forward.n. n. The ridge in the interior of a bifurcating tube between the two branches given off from it.n. In horticulture, a twig or short branch that bears flowers and fruit, in distinction from one that continues to elongate in woody growth.n. A side-track running out from a main railway line and forming part of a Y.
