Thesaurus results for SPURRING

spurring

verb

present participle of spur

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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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 spurring Bernardeau’s character, Rafael Rodríguez Rapún, was a real person — an activist and actor who’d been Lorca’s romantic partner before the poet’s 1936 assassination by Franco’s forces, spurring Rodríguez Rapún to fight the fascists. — Daniel D'addario, Variety, 14 Oct. 2026 The tournament also aims to give high-level, meaningful competition for club teams, while spurring player development. — ABC News, 14 Oct. 2026 The latest attacks mean that five ships have been attacked in the exclusive economic zones of NATO member countries—spurring requests for NATO to redeploy counter-drone systems to provide more protection. — Jeremy Hsu, ArsTechnica, 14 Oct. 2026 Lurie was former policy chief for Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who made tackling prerogative and spurring housing and other business projects on the South and West sides a priority and was sometimes stymied by pushback from aldermen. — A.d. Quig, Chicago Tribune, 13 Oct. 2026 The Social Reckoning had a tough time making noise at the box office in its opening weekend, spurring debate about the prospects for a spate of 2026 titles examining the tech sphere. — Ryan Gajewski, HollywoodReporter, 12 Oct. 2026 The ban may have had the unintentional effect of spurring them to action. — Lauren Collins, New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2026 Tech executives spurring rage to fatten balance sheets pay no price for this. — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 8 Oct. 2026 The documentary, based on insider accounts from Israeli soldiers and intelligence officers, sparked outrage among Israeli officials, even spurring calls to consider criminal charges against the documentarians and strip them of their citizenship. — Charlene Gubash, NBC news, 7 Oct. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for spurring

Verb

On April 21, 2023, Garr was walking up Bridge Street in Drexel Hill when police said Weh brutally attacked him, stabbing and slashing the 15-year-old 11 times.

— Joe Holden, CBS News, 13 Oct. 2026
The 40-foot homemade boat was overloaded with 64 people, who panicked and jumped overboard after De La Rosa began stabbing people, a Homeland Security Investigations criminal complaint states.

— David Goodhue October 12, Miami Herald, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of stabbing

Verb

Sometimes only the tips of the reeds and the seed heads were visible, poking above the murky water, and other times the reeds stood fully exposed, with a clear view of crabs clambering around their bases.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Sep. 2026
Video posted to social media showed one car nearly submerged, with just its sunroof poking above the water, as people moved other vehicles farther from the rising tides.

— Leah Willingham, Los Angeles Times, 26 Sep. 2026

Definition of poking

Verb

The episode never aired, but in copies of the footage that have been re-uploaded online, Jones can be seen goading Scott Amedure, a 32-year-old gay man, about his crush on his 24-year-old straight friend, Jonathan Schmitz.

— Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 16 Aug. 2026
His Dahl is constantly goading people, driving them right up to the edge of their tolerance.

— Sara Holdren, Vulture, 24 Mar. 2026

Definition of goading

Verb

The defense kept prodding James to tell more about the Compton gang war, the hatred between both sides, what really happened on that night in Las Vegas.

— Jeff Weiss, HollywoodReporter, 1 Sep. 2026
But the forces prodding Shin to boost rates are increasingly affecting Fed policy decisions.

— William Pesek, Forbes.com, 31 Aug. 2026

Definition of prodding

Verb

Roche is digging deeper into the biotech industry in China, striking a new partnership with a drug startup there.

— Allison DeAngelis, STAT, 8 Oct. 2026
Direct water toward the bed by installing a gutter extension, creating a downhill slope, digging a trench or connecting a PVC pipe to a distant gutter and running it underground to the rain garden.

— ABC News, ABC News, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of digging

Verb

An image from a San Francisco police officer's body camera shows an officer punching Kevon Gibson as he is being restrained by other officers.

— Senior Editor, CBS News, 8 Oct. 2026
In June, LaBeouf was sentenced to probation after pleading guilty to punching three people outside a New Orleans bar during Mardi Gras.

— ABC News, ABC News, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of punching

Verb

The other student strikes one more blow from behind, knocking Xavier to the ground.

— Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026
The murder prompted an extensive investigation, with police interviewing more than 1,300 people and knocking on hundreds of doors.

— Brittany Miller, FOXNews.com, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of knocking

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spurs

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“Spurring.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spurring. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of spurring

verb

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