spur

noun

• 1a device with a small spike or a spiked wheel that is worn on a rider’s heel and used for urging a horse forward.
• a horny spike on the back of the leg of a cock or male game bird, used in fighting.
• a steel point fastened to the leg of a gamecock.
• Medicine a short pointed growth or process on a part of the body.

• 2a thing that prompts or encourages someone; an incentive:wars act as a spur to practical invention

• 3a thing that projects or branches off from a main body, in particular:
• a projection from a mountain or mountain range: it’s an easy walk up the spur that leads to the summit
• a short branch road or railway line.
• Botany a slender tubular projection from the base of a flower, e.g. a honeysuckle or orchid, typically containing nectar.
• a short fruit-bearing side shoot.

• 4a small, single-pointed support for ceramic ware in a kiln.

verb (spurs, spurring, spurred)

• 1urge (a horse) forward by digging one’s spurs into its sides:she spurred her horse towards the hedge
• give an incentive or encouragement to (someone):her sons' passion for computer games spurred her on to set up a software shop
• promote the development of; stimulate:governments cut interest rates to spur demand

• 2prune in (a side shoot of a plant) so as to form a spur close to the stem:spur back the lateral shoots