spurn
English
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spurn
- /spɜːn/ UK
- /spɝn/ US
Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)n
Where it comes from
From Middle English spurnen, spornen, from Old English spurnan (“to strike against, kick, spurn, reject; stumble”), from Proto-Germanic *spurnaną (“to tread, kick, knock out”), from Proto-Indo-European *sperH-.
Cognate with Scots spurn (“to strike, push, kick”), German spornen (“to spur on”), Icelandic sporna, spyrna (“to kick”), Latin spernō (“despise, distain, scorn”). Related to spur and spread.
verb spurns · spurning · spurned
- To reject disdainfully; contemn; scorn. to spurn at your most royal image
- To reject something by pushing it away with the foot. Me thinks I ſee kings kneeling at his feet, And he with frowning browes and fiery lookes, Spurning their crownes from off their captiue heads.
- To waste; fail to make the most of (an opportunity) Marouane Chamakh then spurned a great chance to kill the game off when he ran onto Andrey Arshavin's lofted through ball but shanked his shot horribly across the face of goal.
- To kick or toss up the heels. oft' the ſudden Gale Ruffles the Tide, and ſhifts the dang'rous Sail, […] The drunken Chairman in the Kennel ſpurns, The Glaſſes ſhatters, and his Charge o'erturns.
noun spurns
- An act of spurning; a scornful rejection.
- A kick; a blow with the foot. What defence can properly be used in such a despicable encounter as this but either the slap or the spurn?
- Disdainful rejection; contemptuous treatment. The insolence of office and the spurns That patient merit of the unworthy takes.
- A body of coal left to sustain an overhanging mass.
Translations
Every language
verb to reject disdainfully
| Español | desdeñar |
|---|---|
| Português | desdenhar |
| Français | renier, dédaigner |
| Deutsch | verschmähen, abweisen, verachten |
| Русский | презри́тельно отверга́ть prezrítelʹno |
verb to reject by pushing away with the foot
| Deutsch | treten, mit Füßen treten |
|---|---|
| Русский | пина́ть pinátʹ |
noun an act of spurning; a scornful rejection
| Deutsch | Verschmähen, Verschmähung |
|---|---|
| Русский | презри́тельный отка́з prezrítelʹnyj |
Talk about this word "spurn." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/spurn. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. spurn. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/spurn "spurn." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/spurn.Cite this
@misc{spurn_2026,
title = {spurn},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/spurn},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
