One way to picture it: a small sharp point fixed at the rider's heel. When the rider presses it into the horse's side, the horse jumps forward. It is a tiny thing that produces a sudden burst of movement — and it also just sticks out, a point projecting from a bigger body.
From the word’s history
The noun goes back to Old English spora / spura, from Proto-Germanic *spurô, tied to a Proto-Indo-European root *sperH- meaning 'to kick'. The kicking heel is right there in the word's history — which is why the modern core keeps that sense of a heel-jab that sets something moving.
這個名詞來自古英語 spora / spura，上溯到原始日耳曼語 *spurô，再往上是原始印歐語 *sperH-（踢）。也就是說，「用腳跟踢」這個動作本來就寫在這個字的身世裡；現代 spur 保留的「戳一下、催一下就往前」的感覺，正是從那個踢的動作延續下來的。
Wiktionary, entry 'spur' (Etymology 1, from Old English spora/spura < PGmc *spurô < PIE *sperH- 'to kick')
登入就可以看每一支怎麼連回核心畫面。
原始詞典資料30 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
Spurname
- 1
An occupational surname from Middle English
Spurnoun
- 1
ball-gamesgameshobbiessomeone connected with Tottenham Hotspur FC, as a fan, player, coach etc.
spurnoun詞源 1/spɜː/
- 1
A rigid implement, often roughly y-shaped, that is fixed to one's heel for the purpose of prodding a horse. Often worn by, and emblematic of, the cowboy or the knight.
- Lives he, good uncle? thrice within this hour I saw him down; thrice up again, and fighting; From helmet to the spur all blood he was.
- Tvvo ſorts of ſpurs ſeem to have been in uſe about the time of the Conqueſt, one called a pryck, having only a ſingle point like the gaffle of a fighting cock; the other conſiſting of a number of points of a conſiderable length, radiating from and revolving on a center, thence named the rouelle or vvheel ſpur.
- 2
A jab given with the spurs.
- I had hardly said the word, when Kit jumped into the saddle, and gave his horse a whip and a spur — and off it cantered, as if it were in as great a hurry to be married as Kit himself.
- 3
Anything that inspires or motivates, as a spur does a horse.
- She is a theame of honour and renowne, / A ſpurre to valiant and magnanimous deeds, / Whoſe preſent courage may beate downe our foes, / And fame in time to come canonize us, [...]
- 4
An appendage or spike pointing rearward, near the foot, for instance that of a rooster.
- 5
Any protruding part connected at one end, for instance a highway that extends from another highway into a city.
- 6
Roots, tree roots.
- […] the strong-bas'd promontory / Have I made shake; and by the spurs pluck'd up / The pine and cedar […]
- I do note / That grief and patience, rooted in them both, / Mingle their spurs together.
- 7
geographygeologynatural-sciencesA mountain that shoots from another mountain or range and extends some distance in a lateral direction, or at right angles.
- But a narrow spur of rocks arched out and over the hole, ending in an outcrop perhaps a hundred feet across.
- 8
A spiked iron worn by seamen upon the bottom of the boot, to enable them to stand upon the carcass of a whale to strip off the blubber.
另外 11 個記錄的用法
- 9
businesscarpentryconstructionA brace strengthening a post and some connected part, such as a rafter or crossbeam; a strut.
- 10
architectureThe short wooden buttress of a post.
- 11
architectureA projection from the round base of a column, occupying the angle of a square plinth upon which the base rests, or bringing the bottom bed of the base to a nearly square form. It is generally carved in leafage.
- 12
Ergotized rye or other grain.
- 13
A wall in a fortification that crosses a part of a rampart and joins to an inner wall.
- 14
businessmanufacturingshipbuildingA piece of timber fixed on the bilgeways before launching, having the upper ends bolted to the vessel's side.
- 15
businessmanufacturingshipbuildingA curved piece of timber serving as a half to support the deck where a whole beam cannot be placed.
- 16
businessminingA branch of a vein.
- 17
rail-transportrailwaystransportA very short branch line of a railway line.
- 18
transportA short branch road of a motorway, freeway or major road.
- 19
biologybotanynatural-sciencesA short thin side shoot from a branch, especially one that bears fruit or, in conifers, the shoots that bear the leaves.
spurverb詞源 1/spɜː/
- 1
To prod (especially a horse) on the side or flank, with the intent to urge motion or haste, to gig.
- Draw, archers, draw your arrows to the head! Spur your proud horses hard, and ride in blood; Amaze the welkin with your broken staves!
- 2
To urge or encourage to action, or to a more vigorous pursuit of an object
- My desire / (More sharp than filed steel) did spur me forth...
- But the latest Santa Fe development, while not spurring the Rock Island to any further acceleration, has drawn fire from a totally unexpected quarter.
- 3
To put spurs on.
- to spur boots
- 4
To press forward; to travel in great haste.
- 5
To form a spur (senses 17-18 of the noun)
- It spurs off the Robin Hood line, providing ten miles of single-line test track with a three-mile double section, capable of testing up to 75mph.
spurnoun詞源 2/spɜː/
- 1
A tern.
spurnoun詞源 3/spɜː/
- 1
businesselectrical-engineeringelectricityA spurious tone, one that interferes with a signal in a circuit and is often masked underneath that signal.
spurnoun詞源 4/spɜː/
- 1
The track of an animal, such as an otter; a spoor.
這個拼法也被記錄為下列字的變化形：
- speer
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。