Dictionary entry

Spurn

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Spurn (spûrn), v. t. [imp. & p. p.Spurned (spûrnd); p. pr. & vb. n.Spurning.] [OE. spurnen to kick against, to stumble over, AS. spurnan to kick, offend; akin to spura spur, OS. & OHG. spurnan to kick, Icel. spyrna, L. spernere to despise, Skr. sphur to jerk, to push. √171. See Spur.] 1. To drive back or away, as with the foot; to kick.

with his foot will spurn adown his cup. Chaucer.

I spurn thee like a cur out of my way. Shak.

2. To reject with disdain; to scorn to receive or accept; to treat with contempt.

What safe and nicely I might well delay

By rule of knighthood, I disdain and spurn. Shak.

Domestics will pay a more cheerful service when they find themselves not spurned because fortune has laid them at their master's feet. Locke.