The Only Use of
spurn
in
The Scarlet Letter
- Measured by the prisoner's experience, however, it might be reckoned a journey of some length; for haughty as her demeanour was, she perchance underwent an agony from every footstep of those that thronged to see her, as if her heart had been flung into the street for them all to spurn and trample upon.†
p. 52.7
Definitions:
-
(1)
(spurn) reject as not good enough
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Less commonly, and archaically, spurn can mean to strike or kick.