as in stabbing
to urge or push forward with or as if with a pointed object
gently spurred the horse with his heels
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Recent Examples of spurring
Though Cooper did not clarify if the ceasefire between Washington and Tehran was now over, a raft of attacks throughout Monday spiked fears that the war would restart, spurring sharp price increases in already-jittery energy markets.
—
Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 4 May 2026
The move appears to have backfired, spurring voters in California and, last week, Virginia to redraw their state’s political maps to more than offset Texas and boost Democrats in November.
—Mark Barabak, Mercury News, 1 May 2026
Other analysts are far more bullish, putting their faith in demand for compute continuing to grow — spurring on those big AI infrastructure projects.
—Kai Nicol-Schwarz, CNBC, 1 May 2026
Scientists don’t fully understand why, but one intriguing study found that some particles from the bacteria’s cell wall leak into the joints and can persist after treatment, spurring ongoing inflammation and arthritis symptoms.
—Lakshmi Chauhan, The Conversation, 30 Apr. 2026
Infrastructure damage from the war, along with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, has sent prices up without spurring new drilling.
—Elizabeth Lopatto, The Verge, 29 Apr. 2026
All of those excess dollars are spurring retailers to raise prices and the Federal Reserve to slow down interest-rate cuts.
—Annie Lowrey, The Atlantic, 28 Apr. 2026
The government is mindful of not hurting economic growth or spurring panic among consumers.
—Shoko Oda, Bloomberg, 27 Apr. 2026
As with any successful mission, Cassini’s wealth of riches should be spurring us on to future investigations.
—Big Think, 15 Apr. 2026
Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 4 May 2026
The move appears to have backfired, spurring voters in California and, last week, Virginia to redraw their state’s political maps to more than offset Texas and boost Democrats in November.
—Mark Barabak, Mercury News, 1 May 2026
Other analysts are far more bullish, putting their faith in demand for compute continuing to grow — spurring on those big AI infrastructure projects.
—Kai Nicol-Schwarz, CNBC, 1 May 2026
Scientists don’t fully understand why, but one intriguing study found that some particles from the bacteria’s cell wall leak into the joints and can persist after treatment, spurring ongoing inflammation and arthritis symptoms.
—Lakshmi Chauhan, The Conversation, 30 Apr. 2026
Infrastructure damage from the war, along with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, has sent prices up without spurring new drilling.
—Elizabeth Lopatto, The Verge, 29 Apr. 2026
All of those excess dollars are spurring retailers to raise prices and the Federal Reserve to slow down interest-rate cuts.
—Annie Lowrey, The Atlantic, 28 Apr. 2026
The government is mindful of not hurting economic growth or spurring panic among consumers.
—Shoko Oda, Bloomberg, 27 Apr. 2026
As with any successful mission, Cassini’s wealth of riches should be spurring us on to future investigations.
—Big Think, 15 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spurring
Verb
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London — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was heckled Thursday during a visit to North London, a day after two Jewish men were wounded in a stabbing attack — the latest in a series of incidents that one of Starmer's cabinet members has called an antisemitism emergency.—
Inaya Folarin Iman,
CBS News,
1 May 2026
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An alleged TikTok antagonist is accused of stabbing a 17-year-old to death outside his New York City apartment building, authorities said.—
Aaron Katersky,
ABC News,
1 May 2026
Verb
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Nice little Rogen dig here that reminds me of This Is the End poking fun at The Green Hornet.—
Ben Rosenstock,
Vulture,
29 Apr. 2026
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In response to shouts for everyone to get down, one administration official at a media table crawled under it, with just her high heels poking out.—
Calvin Woodward,
Chicago Tribune,
26 Apr. 2026
Verb
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His Dahl is constantly goading people, driving them right up to the edge of their tolerance.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
24 Mar. 2026
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So, does Roan deserve all the credit for softening the nature of these carpets, where dozens of photographers gather to scream goading or even offensive remarks at talent just to get their attention?—
Rebecca Ford,
Vanity Fair,
12 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Kuhner is a writer, and, a few months after his family arrived, neighbors started prodding him to take over the local bookstore, which was being sold.—
Emma Green,
New Yorker,
17 Apr. 2026
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And six years later, Donovan is still prodding and cajoling the forward to crash the boards and control his dribble and contribute physically to the game.—
Julia Poe,
Chicago Tribune,
26 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Best travel backpack for airplanes Hate digging through your bags to pull out your laptop or tablet at security?—
BestReviews,
Mercury News,
1 May 2026
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Swimming is allowed, but most kids are happier digging than wading.—
Lauren Schuster,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
30 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Lee was arrested April 3 in the 9300 block of Cicero Avenue after punching a man at a nearby gas station, police said.—
Dennis Sullivan,
Chicago Tribune,
6 May 2026
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Nilan and Miller spent a lot of those minutes punching each other, Nilan as a Canadien and Miller as a Bruin, during the 1980s iteration of the ancient rivalry.—
Steve Conroy,
Boston Herald,
2 May 2026
Verb
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Prices in the Inland Empire were nudging closer to $6 on Thursday.—
City News Service,
Oc Register,
30 Apr. 2026
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OpenAI, for example, added a feature to ChatGPT in August that encourages users to take breaks after using the tool for extended periods of time instead of nudging them to keep responding.—
Renée Onque,
CNBC,
23 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Business Insider previously obtained an internal document that described damage to one data center knocking 14 EC2 cloud server racks offline, in addition to impacting five other server racks.—
Jeremy Hsu,
ArsTechnica,
1 May 2026
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Tollinche allegedly antagonizes people on the social media platform, and neighborhood teens have recently been gathering outside his home, knocking on his door and calling him out, according to police.—
Aaron Katersky,
ABC News,
1 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Spurring.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spurring. Accessed 7 May. 2026.
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