win one's spurs

English

Alternative forms

• earn one's spurs
• gain one's spurs

Verb

win one's spurs (third-person singular simple present wins one's spurs, present participle winning one's spurs, simple past and past participle won one's spurs)

1. To achieve recognition.
2. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) (history) To be knighted.

See also

• earn one's stripes
• earn one's wings

Further reading

• “earn/win your spurs” in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Longman.
• “win/earn your spurs” (US) / “win/earn your spurs” (UK) in Macmillan English Dictionary.
• “win one's spurs”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “win/gain your spurs”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “win one's spurs”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “win one's spurs/earn one's spurs”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “win one's spurs”, in Collins English Dictionary.