frequently_asked_questions_files/Oxford Thesaurus.pdf

ecklessly, hastily, brashly, incautiously, unexpectedly,
suddenly: On the spur of the moment, we decided to fly to Cap
d'Antibes for the weekend.
--v. 4 goad, prod, urge, egg on, impel, incite, prompt, press,
push, pressure or Brit pressurize, stimulate, drive, provoke,
induce, encourage, motivate, excite, animate: The sales force
are spurred on by the huge bonuses the company offers.
spurious adj. false, counterfeit, sham, fake, fraudulent, bogus, mock,
imitation, simulated, unauthentic, ungenuine, forged, feigned,
pretended, deceitful, meretricious, contrived, factitious,
artificial, ersatz, synthetic, Colloq pseudo, phoney or US also
phony: His brother was jailed for peddling spurious Egyptian
burial artefacts to archaeologists.
spurn v. reject, disdain, scorn, contemn, despise, rebuff, repudiate,
refuse, sneer at, snub, brush off, turn down, turn one's back on
or upon, look down on or upon, Colloq cold-shoulder, turn one's
nose up at, sneeze at: Judith spurned her father's offer of a
loan.
spurt n. 1 burst, access, effort, outbreak, spell, interval, spate,
moment, instant: With a sudden spurt of speed he caught up with
me. 2 increase, advance, acceleration, rise, improvement:
After a brief spurt in business in January, everything stopped.
--v. 3 gush, spew, squirt, jet, shoot, erupt, burst, surge:
The minute the plumber left, water began spurting out of the
drain again.
spy n. 1 double agent, foreign agent, secret(-service) agent,
intelligence agent, undercover agent, mole, fifth-columnist, CIA
man or woman or agent, MI5 or MI6 man or woman or agent;
informer, informant, Colloq mole, Slang stool-pigeon, stoolie,
fink, ratfink: In those days, everyone was a spy and you could
trust no one.
--v. 2 Usually, spy on or upon. follow, shadow, trail, watch,
observe, reconnoitre, keep under surveillance, US surveil,
Colloq tail, check out, case: Why should anyone from a foreign
government be spying on my mother? 3 espy, glimpse, spot, catch
sight or a glimpse of, descry, note, notice, see, discern: I