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
But the broadcasting union declined to kick Israel out, spurring five countries — Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Iceland — to boycott.
—
ABC News, 13 May 2026
Fusty and fractious Professor Bullfinch is bludgeoned with a bust of Nathaniel Hawthorne in his office at Cromwell University, throwing the faculty into a tizzy and spurring Elizabeth Cutty, the university’s president, into covering the university’s backside.
—Paula L. Woods, Los Angeles Times, 12 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
ABC News, 13 May 2026
Fusty and fractious Professor Bullfinch is bludgeoned with a bust of Nathaniel Hawthorne in his office at Cromwell University, throwing the faculty into a tizzy and spurring Elizabeth Cutty, the university’s president, into covering the university’s backside.
—Paula L. Woods, Los Angeles Times, 12 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spurring
Verb
-
Authorities allege Medina was involved in a May 19 stabbing at Narragansett Town Beach as hundreds of teenagers packed the area.—
Louis Casiano,
FOXNews.com,
22 May 2026
-
Also Thursday, Florida is scheduled to execute Richard Knight for the 2000 stabbing deaths of a pregnant woman and her 4-year-old daughter.—
Amanda Lee Myers,
USA Today,
20 May 2026
Verb
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In partnership with Underdog, a popular daily fantasy sports (DFS) and pick'em betting platform, Brooks revealed a one-of-a-kind board game poking fun at SGA.—
Jon Root OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
22 May 2026
-
Plenty of skilled directors can manipulate tension and fear while still poking us toward nervous laughter.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
22 May 2026
Verb
-
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
-
The song is a reflection of the pressure on Joel to follow up on his success in the late 70s, and the prodding synthesizer riff adds to the claustrophobic nature of the tune.—
Austin Perry OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
9 May 2026
-
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
Verb
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Three months after the publication of Devout, David Archuleta is both digging deeper into the journey that led him to write his memoir and finding more balance in his life since the New York Times best seller debuted.—
Cathy Applefeld Olson,
Forbes.com,
22 May 2026
-
Geothermal heat is basically free once the system is constructed, though digging the boreholes can be a considerable expense.—
Ishan Thakore,
NPR,
20 May 2026
Verb
-
Lead Ambitiously Embracing ambitious goals enables companies to break free from limitations and rewrite the rules of competition by punching above their weight.—
Kapil Jain,
Forbes.com,
20 May 2026
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When Kansas City officials talk about punching above their weight class as a sports market, rankings like the one issued Monday by the Sports Business Journal support the claim.—
Blair Kerkhoff,
Kansas City Star,
18 May 2026
Verb
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Betting platforms have to call outcomes accurately or they’ll get dropped from the cable-news scroll, and insiders nudging odds toward correct answers help with that.—
Liz Hoffman,
semafor.com,
19 May 2026
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From July 2024 to July 2025, Charlotte added 20,731 people, and also nudging its population total closer to the 1 million mark, according to Census Bureau estimates released Thursday.—
John Marks,
Charlotte Observer,
14 May 2026
Verb
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However, when his past comes knocking, he is forced to confront it.—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
22 May 2026
-
The footmen of such regimes always come knocking on your door at around four in the morning.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
21 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Spurring.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spurring. Accessed 24 May. 2026.
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