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Catalyst vs Spur - What's the difference?

catalyst | spur |

As nouns the difference between catalyst and spur

is that catalyst is (chemistry) a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process while spur is tire marks.

catalyst

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • (chemistry) A substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed in the process.
  • * 1988 , Biochemistry , 3rd edition, page 177
  • Enzymes, the catalysts of biological systems, are remarkable molecular devices that determine the pattern of chemical transformations.
  • Someone or something that encourages progress or change.
  • Economic development and integration are working as a catalyst for peace.
  • * 1978 , Ernest George Schwiebert, Trout , Volume 2
  • It was a morning baptized by my first cup of coffee, freshly brewed over a gravel-bar fire, while they celebrated with the stronger catalyst of sour-mash whiskey in their fishing-vest cups.
  • * 2004 , Michael B. Oren, Six Days of War: June 1967 and the making of the modern Middle East , page 76
  • Israel's fear for the reactor—rather than Egypt's of it—was the greater catalyst for war.
  • * 2006 , The Freedom Writers, with Erin Gruwell, The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them , Diary 74
  • Rosa Parks was a true catalyst' for change and she was only one person. Hearing about Rosa Parks and her protest showed me that there is hope for me and all the students in Ms. G's classes to truly be ' catalysts for change.
  • * '>citation
  • (literature) An inciting incident which that sets the successive conflict into motion.
  • (automotive) A catalytic converter.
  • Synonyms

    * (Someone or something that encourages progress or change) stimulus, straw that stirs the drink

    Antonyms

    * (something that encourages change) inhibitor * (something that enhances or accelerates) dampener

    Derived terms

    * catalyse, catalyze * catalysis * catalytic

    See also

    * enzyme

    spur

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) (m).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A rigid implement, often roughly y-shaped, that is fixed to one's heel for the purpose of prodding a horse. Often worn by, and emblematic of, the cowboy or the knight.
  • * 1598 , William Shakespeare, (Henry V) , Act IV, Scene VI, line 4:
  • Lives he, good uncle? thrice within this hour I saw him down; thrice up again, and fighting; From helmet to the spur all blood he was.
  • * 1786 , Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons , page 22:
  • Two sorts of spurs seem to have been in use about the time of the Conquest, one called a pryck, having only a single point like the gaffle of a fighting cock; the other consisting of a number of points of considerable length, radiating from and revolving on a center, thence named the rouelle or wheel spur.
  • Anything that inspires or motivates, as a spur does to a horse.
  • * 1601 , (William Shakespeare), (Troilus and Cressida) , Act II, Scene II, line 198.
  • But, worthy Hector, She is a theme of honour and renown, A spur to valiant and magnanimous deeds...
  • An appendage or spike pointing rearward, near the foot, for instance that of a rooster.
  • Any protruding part connected at one end, for instance a highway that extends from another highway into a city.
  • Roots, tree roots.
  • * 1609 , , Act IV, Scene II, line 57:
  • I do note / That grief and patience, rooted in them both, / Mingle their spurs together.
  • * 1610 , , act 5 scene 1
  • [...] the strong-bas'd promontory
    Have I made shake; and by the spurs pluck'd up
    The pine and cedar
  • A mountain that shoots from another mountain or range and extends some distance in a lateral direction, or at right angles.
  • A spiked iron worn by seamen upon the bottom of the boot, to enable them to stand upon the carcass of a whale to strip off the blubber.
  • (carpentry) A brace strengthening a post and some connected part, such as a rafter or crossbeam; a strut.
  • (architecture) The short wooden buttress of a post.
  • (architecture) A projection from the round base of a column, occupying the angle of a square plinth upon which the base rests, or bringing the bottom bed of the base to a nearly square form. It is generally carved in leafage.
  • Ergotized rye or other grain.
  • A wall in a fortification that crosses a part of a rampart and joins to an inner wall.
  • (shipbuilding) A piece of timber fixed on the bilgeways before launching, having the upper ends bolted to the vessel's side.
  • (shipbuilding) A curved piece of timber serving as a half to support the deck where a whole beam cannot be placed.
  • Derived terms
    * spur-of-the-moment

    Verb

    (spurr)
  • To prod (especially a horse) in the side or flank, with the intent to urge motion or haste, to gig.
  • * 1592 , William Shakespeare, Richard III , Act V, Scene III, line 339:
  • Draw, archers, draw your arrows to the head! Spur your proud horses hard, and ride in blood; Amaze the welkin with your broken staves!
  • To urge or encourage to action, or to a more vigorous pursuit of an object; to incite; to stimulate; to instigate; to impel; to drive.
  • * 1599 , William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night , Act III, Scene IV, line 4.
  • My desire / (More sharp than filed steel) did spur me forth...
  • * '>citation
  • To put spurs on; as, a spurred boot.
  • Derived terms
    * spur on

    Etymology 2

    See sparrow.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (Scotland) A sparrow.
  • A tern.
  • Etymology 3

    Short for spurious.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A spurious tone, one that interferes with a signal in a circuit and is often masked underneath that signal.