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Synonyms
spur (spûr)

[Middle English spure, from Old English spura.]

noun 

  1. A short spike or spiked wheel that attaches to the heel of a rider's boot and is used to urge a horse forward.
  2. Something that serves as a goad or incentive.
  3. A spurlike attachment or projection, as:
    1. A spinelike process on the leg of some birds.
    2. A climbing iron; a crampon.
    3. A gaff attached to the leg of a gamecock.
    4. A short or stunted branch of a tree.
    5. A bony outgrowth or protuberance.
  4. A lateral ridge projecting from a mountain or mountain range.
  5. An oblique reinforcing prop or stay of timber or masonry.
  6. Botany A tubular or saclike extension of the corolla or calyx of a flower, as in a columbine or larkspur.
  7. An ergot growing on rye.
  8. A spur track.

verb: spurred, spur·ring, spurs. 

transitive verb 

  1. To urge (a horse) on by the use of spurs.
  2. To incite or stimulate: “A business tax cut is needed to spur industrial investment” (New York Times)

intransitive verb 

  1. To ride quickly by spurring a horse.
  2. To proceed in haste.