Thesaurus results for SPURRED

spurred

verb

Definition of spurred

past tense of spur

as in dug

to urge or push forward with or as if with a pointed object gently spurred the horse with his heels

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of spurred The lazy label attached to William in the past may have spurred him into action. — Stephanie Nolasco , Ashley Papa, FOXNews.com, 6 Aug. 2026 Growth in Asia was spurred by core markets like China, up 40% year-on-year and standing in contrast to the rest of the industry, where the market dragged on quarterly results. — Ella Graveney, Vogue, 6 Aug. 2026 Havoc's innovation was spurred on by success overseas, where Ukraine pioneered drone warfare saving in cost and in human casualties. — Louisa Moller, CBS News, 5 Aug. 2026 Antananarivo's population has increased by more than 10 times since the 1960s, spurred by rural-to-urban migration that is happening across Africa. — ABC News, 5 Aug. 2026 But in the past two years, the likes of Claude and ChatGPT have dramatically expanded the capacities of agents—and, in doing so, have spurred a rethinking of how the internet itself works. — Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 4 Aug. 2026 Wall Street’s confidence in the memory sector is rebounding following a sell-off over the last month, spurred partly by profit-taking from momentum traders and deleveraging by hedge funds. — Tobias Burns, CNBC, 4 Aug. 2026 While at first spurred by the clean-energy transition, the demand for critical minerals is now driven by their role as essential ingredients for AI data centers. — Justin Worland, Time, 4 Aug. 2026 Pragiwaksono’s arrival in America spurred something of a comedic identity crisis. — Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 30 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for spurred

Verb

One of the warrants may have revealed some of the scammers’ faces; police dug through a suspect’s social media accounts and found a picture of three men gathered around a computer in Nigeria, according to court records.

— Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 6 Aug. 2026
Preller dug around a farm system that isn’t even that great anymore, and found enough leftover parts to bring in two of the better starters available.

— Levi Weaver, New York Times, 4 Aug. 2026

Definition of dug

Verb

There was the guy Daemon stabbed through the ear, and then the smelly killers Gwayne sniffed out, and now Ser Adrian, who took a knife to the throat within seconds of seeing Aemond.

— Brian Grubb, Vulture, 3 Aug. 2026
Prosecutors argued the evidence supported a murder conviction, with Deputy Prosecutor Scott Bell telling jurors Ramsey stabbed Holder 38 times and the infant 17 times inside their Ewa Beach apartment, according to the Star-Advertiser.

— Christina Coulter, PEOPLE, 3 Aug. 2026

Definition of stabbed

Verb

And along with the documentary, you get prodded into recall again.

— Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 28 July 2026
On cross-examination, defense attorney Blair Berk prodded Wallace to admit that her chemical analysis — done months after prosecutors believe Burke turned his garage into an abattoir — did not definitively prove the presence of blood.

— Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 22 July 2026

Definition of prodded

Verb

Offering a clever twist, the warm cake is poked with the handle of a wooden spoon, creating space for a vanilla-pineapple pudding to sink deep into the crumb.

— Erin Merhar, Southern Living, 2 Aug. 2026
Let sit at room temperature until buns are puffed and expanded to edges of muffin cups (dough will spring back when poked but hold a slight indentation), 25–35 minutes.

— Claire Saffitz, Bon Appetit Magazine, 1 Aug. 2026

Definition of poked

Verb

As the train doors were about to close, the pair exited the train, facing off against each other, and the assailant punched the victim in the face.

— Colin Mixson, New York Daily News, 6 Aug. 2026
During the fight, Collins told detectives, his cousin punched his sister and threatened to kill them.

— Shambhavi Rimal, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 4 Aug. 2026

Definition of punched

Verb

The subsequent drop, as well as a decline in the shares of Musk’s electric vehicle company Tesla, have knocked his wealth down to $783 billion, according to Forbes.

— Bernard Condon, Fortune, 5 Aug. 2026
Ezequiel Duran drove in four runs, the last on a game-ending double, and the Texas Rangers beat the San Francisco Giants 5-4 on Tuesday night to snap a season-worst six-game losing streak that knocked them out of the AL West lead.

— CBS News, CBS News, 5 Aug. 2026