spurn1 (spern)

[ with the foot. And Galashin with his fote spurned his body to grounde. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ii. 199. Am I so round with you as you with me, That like a football you do spurn me thus? 3. In zoöl .: ( a ) False; resembling a part or organ, but not having its function: as, spurious 21. To strike against. eyes or limbs. (b) Having the functions of an organ, but morphologically different from it: Shak., C. of E., ii. 1. 83. Aungils in hond is schullen beere thee. Lest thou spurne thi foot at a stoon. Hymns to Virgin , etc, (E, E. T. S.), p. 43, IMG:content-1873.jpg:[blocks in formation] O how my soul would spurn this ball of clay, And loathe the dainties of earth's painful pleasure! Quarles, Emblems, v. 13. II. in trans. 1. To kick. I purpose not to spurn against the prick, nor labour to set up that which God pulleth down. Bp . of Ely , in J. Gairdner's Richard III., iv. 21. To dash the foot against something; light on something unexpectedly; stumble. No wight on it sporneth That erst was nothynge, into nought it torneth. The maid Chaucer , Troilus, ii. 797. ran upstairs, but, spurning at the dead Martin us Scriblerus , i. 8. body, fell upon it in a swoon. 31. To dash; rush.-4. To manifest disdain or contempt in rejecting anything; make contemptuous opposition; manifest contempt or disdain in resistance. It is very sure that they that be good will bear, and not spurn at the preachers. Latimer , 3d Sermon bef. Edw. VI., 1549. Thou art regardle both of good and shame, Spurning at virtue and a virtuous name. Fletcher , Faithful Shepherde , v. 3. or spur - rial; IMG:content-1874.jpg:[blocks in formation] I'le to e that heele a yard above his head That offers but a spurne. Heywood, Royal King (Works, ed. Pearson, 1874, VI. 31). 2t. A stumble; a fall. Joseph of Arimathie (E. E. T. S.), p. 19.-3. Disdainful rejection; contemptuous treatment. The insolence of office, and the spurns That patient merit of the unworthy takes. Shak., Hamlet, iii. 1. 73. 4. In mining, one of the narrow pillars or connections left between the holings, and not cut away until just before the withdrawal of the sprags. [South Staff ords hire coal-field, England.] spurn2 (spérn), n. [A var. of spur, after spurn1, v. Cf. G. sporn, spur, orig. an acc. form: see spur, n.] 1. A spur. [Prov. Eng.] -2. A piece of wood having one end inserted in the ground, and the other nailed at an angle to a gate-post, for the purpose of strengthening or supporting it. [Prov. Eng.] spurn't (spern), v. t. [ The Faery quickly raught His poynant speare, and sharply gan to spurne His fomy steed. Spenser. F. Q., III. i. 5.