Spur.
1. (Manege.) An instrument attached to the heel, and having a rowel or wheel of points to prick a horse's side. Spurs were used by the Greeks and Romans. They are referred to by Plautus (died B. C. 184) and by other Latin authors. The rim is the part inclosing the heel of the boot; the neck, the part between the rowel and the rim; the rowel, a wheel with sharp radial points. Spurs are represented on seals of the eleventh century. They were common among the Saxons, being made of brass or iron, and fastened to the shoe by a leathern thong. Instead of a rowel, the rear had a single fixed, sharp point. The rowel is noticed in the reign of Henry III. Anciently the knight wore golden spurs, and his squire spurs of silver.
2. (Shipbuilding.) a. A shore extending from the bilgeway, and fayed and bolted to the bottom of the ship on the stocks. b. A curved piece of timber, serving as a half-beam to support a deck where a hatchway occurs. c. A compass timber or knee, having one arm bolted to the deck-beams and a vertical arm bolted to the bitts, which are additionally secured thereby.
3. (Nautical.) a. A sole with spikes, to enable a seaman to stand on a whale while flensing. b. A prong on the arm of some forms of anchor, to assist in turning the lower arm from the shank.
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4. (Hydraulic Engineering.) A projection carried out from the bank of a river to deflect the current and protect the bank. It is made of masonry, of piles, or of earth revetted by gabions or fascines. See groin; Croy.
5. (Carpentry.) A strut or brace strengthening a rafter, or stiffening a post.
6. (Architecture.) A buttress.
7. (Fortification.) a. A tower or blockhouse in the outworks before the port. b. A wall that crosses part of a rampart and connects to the interior work.
