496 
S P U 
S P U 
SPRUNT, s. Any thing that is short, and will not easily 
bend. Johnson. Unused. —A leap, or a spring in leaping. 
SPRUNT, part. adj. Vigorous; active. Kersey. 
SPRU'NTLY, adv. Gaily; dashingly. 
How do I look to-day, am I not drest 
Spruntly ? B. Jonson. 
SPRY HARBOUR, a bay on the south-east coast of 
Nova Scotia. Lat. 44. 42. N. long. 62. 40. W. 
SPUD, s. A short knife; an instrument for cutting up 
thistles ; any short thick thing, in contempt. 
My love to Sheelah is more firmly fixt. 
Than strongest weeds that grow these stones betwixt: 
My spud these nettles from the stones can part. 
No knife so keen to weed thee from my heart. Swift. 
SPUME, s. \spuma Lat.] Foam; froth. 
She—lette it [the medicine] boyle in such a plite. 
Till that she sigh the spume white. Gower. 
To SPUME, v. n. \spumo, Lat.] To foam; to froth. 
SPU'MOUS, or Spu'my, adj. [spumeus , Lat.] Frothy; 
foamy.—The sputnous and florid state of the blood, in pass¬ 
ing through the lungs, arises from its own elasticity, and its 
violent motion, the aerial particles expanding themselves. 
Arbutknot. 
SPUN. The pret. and part, pass of spin. 
The nymph nor spun, nor dress’d with artful pride; 
Her vest was gather’d up, her hair was ty’d. Addison _ 
SPUNGE, s. \spongia, Lat.] A sponge. See Sponge. 
—When he needs what you have glean’d it is but squeezing 
you, and spunge, you shall be dry again. Shakspeare. 
To SPUNGE, v. n. To hang on others for maintenance. 
—This will maintain you, with the perquisite of spunging 
while you are young. Swift. 
SPU'NGINESS, s. Sponginess: which see. Cot,grave. 
SPU'NGINGHOUSE, s. A house to which debtors are 
taken before commitment to prison, where the bailiffs sponge 
upon them. 
SPU'NGY, adj. Full of small holes, and soft like a 
sponge. 
Some English wool, vex’d in a Belgian loom, 
And into cloth of spungy softness made. Dryden. 
Having the quality of imbibing. 
There is no lady of more softer bowels. 
More spungy to suck in the sense of fear., Shakspeare. 
SPUNK, s. See Sponk. Touchwood; rotten wood.— 
To make white powder, the best way is by the powder of 
rotten willows; spunk, or touchwood prepared, might per¬ 
haps make it russet. Brown. —Vivacity; spirit; activity. 
A tow and contemptible expression. 
SPUR, s. [j-pup. Sax.] A sharp point fixed in the rider’s 
heel, with which he pricks his horse to drive him forward. 
Whether the body politick be 
A horse whereon the governour doth ride, 
Who, newly in the seat, that it may know 
He can command it, lets it straight feel the spur. 
Shakspeare. 
Incitement; instigation. It is used with to before the 
effect.—The chief, if not only spur to human industry and 
action, is uneasiness. Locke. —The longest and largest lead¬ 
ing root of a tree : hence probably the spur of a post, the 
short wooden buttress affixed to it, to keep it firm in the 
ground. Malone. 
The strong bas’d promontory 
Have I made shake, and by the spurs 
Pluck’d up the pine and cedar. Shakspeare: 
The sharp points on the legs of a cock with which he 
fights.—Animals have natural weapons to defend and offend; 
some talons, some claws, some spurs and beaks. Bay .—A 
sea-swallow. The sea-swallows they there [in Caldey isle] 
call spurs. Ray. 
To SPUR, v. a. To prick with the spur; to drive with 
the spur.—My friend, who always takes care to cure his horse 
of starting fits, spurred him up to the very side of the coach 
Addison .—To instigate; to incite; to urge forward. 
Lovers break not hours. 
Unless it be to come before their time: 
So much they spur their expedition. Shakspeare. 
To drive by force.—Love will not be spurr'd to what it 
loaths. Shakspeare .—To fix a spur to. 
Castor the flame of fiery steed, 
With well spurr'd boot, took down; 
As men, with leathern buckets, do 
Quench fire in country town. 
Old Ballad of St. George for England. 
To SPUR, v. n. To travel with great expedition. 
With backward bows the Parthians shall be there, 
And, spurring from the fight, confess their fear: 
A double wreath shall crown our Caesar’s brows. Dryden. 
To press forward. 
Ascanius took th’ alarm, while yet he led, 
And, spurring on, his equals soon o’erpass’d. Dryden. 
To SPURGALL, v. a. To wound or hurt with the spur. 
I was not made a horse. 
And yet I bear a burthen like an ass, 
Spurgal/'d, and tir’d, by jaunting Bolingbroke. 
Shakspeare. 
SPU'RGALL, s. A hurt occasioned by the too frequent 
use of the spur. 
SPURGE, s. [espurge, Fr.; spurgie, Dutch, from pur go , 
Lat.] A plant violently purgative. 
SPURGE FLAX, s. A plant. See ThymeljEa. 
SPURGE LAUREL, s. A plant. See Mezereon. 
SPURGE OLIVE, s. A shrub. See Cham^tlea. 
SPURGE WORT, s. A plant. See Xiphion. 
SPU'RGING, s. Act of purging; discharge. Obsolete. 
I have been gathering wolves’ hairs. 
The mad dog’s foam, and the adder’s ears; 
The sparging of a dead man’s eyes; 
And all since the evening star did rise. B. Jonson. 
SPU'RIOUS, adj. [spurius, Lat.] Not genuine; coun¬ 
terfeit; adulterine.—Reformed churches reject not all tradi¬ 
tions, but such as are spurious, superstitious, and not con¬ 
sonant to the prime rule of faith. White .—Not legitimate 
bastard. 
Your Scipios, Csesars, Pompevs, and your Catos, 
These gods on earth, are all the spurious brood 
Of violated maids. Addison. 
SPU'RIOUSLY, adv. Counterfeitly ; falsely.—The de¬ 
position, confessing that the child had been spuriously passed 
upon Virginius for his own. Webster, Trag. of Appius 
and Virginia. 
SPU'RIOUSNESS, s. Adulterateness; state of being 
counterfeit.—You proceed to Hippolytus, and speak of his 
spuriousness with as much confidence as if you were able to 
prove it. Water/and. 
SPU'RLING, s. [esperlan , Fr.] A small sea-fish. 
All-saints, do lay for porke and sowse, 
For sprats and spurlings for your house. Tusser. 
Tv SPURN, v. a. [ppopnan, ppupnan, Sax., to kick; and 
so in our old lexicography: “ To spumyn or wyncyn, 
calcitro.” Prompt. Parv. And Barret: “ f wiil sporne or 
strike thee with my foote.”] To kick ; to strike or drive 
with the foot. 
They suppos’d I could rend bars of steel, 
And spurn in pieces posts of adamant. Shakspeare. 
You that did void your rheum upon my beard, 
And foot me as you spurn a stranger cur 
Over your threshold. Shakspeare. 
He in the surging smoke 
Uplifted spurn'd the ground. Milton. 
To reject; to scorn ; to put away with contempt; to dis¬ 
dain. 
In 
