Footspur
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A foothill that shoots from a mountain or range in a perpendicular direction.
"A footspur of Tantalus Hill seeks ineffectually to bar the entrance to Manoa's grateful shades and inviting solitudes."
- 2 A crosspiece on a boat against which the rower braces his or her feet; stretcher.
"My sickness was gone like a flash; I seized the oar, made a footspur of Don Sly's back, and, all pulling steadily, we held our our own till the squall spent itself and then we shot out of the ground swell, and headed across the bay."
- 3 A spur or spike projecting from the foot, such as that worn to prod a horse, or that occurring naturally on some birds, such as roosters.
"Slag here lifted the footspur to dash its brains out, as he had been enjoined; but the type of harmlessness, being now rested, escaped its new, and, shall we say, more irrational enemy, by flight."
Example
More examples"A footspur of Tantalus Hill seeks ineffectually to bar the entrance to Manoa's grateful shades and inviting solitudes."
Etymology
From foot + spur.
More for "footspur"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.