SPURN


Meaning of SPURN in English

I. ˈspərn, -pə̄n, -pəin verb

( -ed/-ing/-s )

Etymology: Middle English spurnen, from Old English spurnan; akin to Old Frisian spurna to kick, Old Saxon & Old High German spurnan, Old Norse sporna to kick, Latin spernere to despise, spurn, Greek spairein to quiver, Sanskrit sphurati he kicks

intransitive verb

1. obsolete : to hit something with the foot : stumble

2. obsolete : to strike something with the foot : kick — often used with at

spurn not at stone walls

3. : to speak out or act against something in disdainful or contemptuous fashion — usually used with at

spurning fearlessly at danger and all enemies

transitive verb

1. : to tread heavily upon (something) : kick , trample

then the creature was off, silver hoofs spurning the ground — Elizabeth Goudge

would have spurned him with her foot save that she did not want to rouse him — C.S.Forester

— often used with away

spurning away those who had helped him to power

2. : to reject (something) with disdain or contempt : scorn

used certain resources and spurned others — Lewis Mumford

spurned a suggestion that he carry a gun — N.Y.Times

the spurned lover assuaged his grief in violent activity — Saxe Commins

Synonyms: see decline

II. noun

( -s )

Etymology: Middle English, from spurnen, v.

1. : a blow delivered with the foot : kick

2. : the act of spurning or kicking

3. : disdainful rejection : contemptuous treatment

the insolence of office, and the spurns that patient merit of the unworthy takes — Shakespeare

III. noun

( -s )

Etymology: alteration of spurn (I)

1. archaic : the main root of a tree

2. archaic : a projecting part : spur

3. : a small short pillar of coal left within the seam to support the coal above during holing

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.