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 hard 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.

• 2a thing that prompts or encourages someone; an incentive:profit was both the spur and the reward of enterprise

• 3a thing that projects or branches off from a main body, in particular.
• a projection from a mountain or mountain range.
• a short branch road or rail 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.
• Medicine a short pointed growth or process on a part of the body.

verb (spurs, spurring, spurred)

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